A Soldier's Story
by Bob123bob123
Summary: A young soldier finds himself lost in the digital world while a war rages in the real one. He meets a digimon that may be able to help him get back to his unit. Renamon x OC This is my first attempt at a fanfiction. Rated T for violence and language.
1. Introduction

Introduction

Sitting in his sleeping bag, a young soldier was contemplating his life. His platoon had just ended their security mission for their company's outpost. This was their first opportunity to catch some shut-eye since the beginning of their combat operations on the Korean peninsula. The young soldier was tired and weary, but questions permeated his mind. Series of 'What ifs?' and 'How abouts?' prevented his immediate slumber. He forced himself to focus on the task at hand, sleeping. Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph had performed combat duties with his platoon for the past 48 hours without rest, and he knew he, and his men, needed some sleep before they continued their mission.

"I hope I don't ever wake up." he mumbled to himself, shortly before succumbing to his fatigue and falling asleep.

* * *

Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been building for quite some time. Ever since Kim Jung Un inherited control of North Korea after his father's death, war seemed to become a real possibility. South Korean and US forces have been preparing for war ever since, conducting various military exercises and gathering intelligence on the Republic's northern neighbor. But the information gathered was not enough to prepare either country for the preemptive strike from the North.

Ten nuclear ballistic missiles were launched from various sites from north of the 38th parallel. Five were shot down before they reached the atmosphere. One malfunctioned and disintegrated before reaching space. One missed its target completely, blowing up in the Sea of Japan. One failed to detonate, and impacted downtown Seoul, causing a small amount of damage. Unfortunately, two struck their designated targets, one striking Yokosuka, Japan, crippling the US Navy's Seventh Fleet, and the other striking Paju, South Korea, allowing the North Korean military to steamroll through the area. Fortunately, combined US and ROK forces stopped the initial assault before reaching the outskirts of Seoul. The death toll from these attacks reached far into the millions.

Along with the nuclear strike, North Korean scientists and computer engineers had launched an extremely large cyber-attack onto the entirety of the internet, causing an internet blackout that lasted a week. Repairs to the internet allowed it to begin functioning, but in a much slower and choppy fashion, with localized blackouts still common.

The allied forces managed to push to the Pyongyang-Wonsan Highway. There, allied forces decided to halt and wait for reinforcements to arrive. These fresh units included 2LT Joseph's own 10th Mountain Division. The LT himself was platoon leader of 3rd Platoon, A Company, 2nd Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team.

2LT Joseph was a relatively green junior officer, commissioning only a year and a half before and barely managing to earn his Sapper Tab from the US Army Engineer School before hostilities opened up on the peninsula. He was 24 years old, 6 feet tall, 205 pounds, and of average build for a soldier. He had short black hair and brown eyes. One could see him as slightly tanner than the average white man. He had a constant scowl on his face, evidence of a displeasure with his current life situation. He seemed to be ready to volunteer for the riskier missions. His men believed this was because he was brave, but his platoon sergeant, Sergeant First Class Harrison, knew better. SFC Harrison saw him as an angry young man, and worried for not only the LT's safety, but also the safety of his platoon.

Presently, 10th Mountain was preparing for the assault on Pyongyang. Alpha Company's mission was to seize a scientific research facility just to the east of Pyongyang, just across the Taedong river. This facility was the source of the cyber-attacks. Little did the men know about the mysteries that were to be discovered in the facility.

* * *

At 0547, 2LT Joseph woke up. _Ah, I wake up to another miserable day alive in this hellhole._ The LT was thinking to himself. He proceeded to wake his men, attempting to prepare them for first formation at 0600. His men reluctantly proceeded to the company formation. Captain Derreck, Alpha Company Commander, called on his men.

"Alpha Company! Fall in!" he ordered. The men quickly took to their designated positions. 2LT Joseph proudly stood in front of his platoon, his scowl complementing the rigidity of the formation. "Report!"

"First Platoon, 36 present and accounted for."

"Second Platoon, 37 present and accounted for."

"Third Platoon, 31 present and accounted for." 2LT Joseph responded. He was well aware of the 10 men he lost in the firefight that had taken place not more than 24 hours ago.

"Fourth Platoon, 42 present and accounted for." _Lucky for them they did not fight in the battle. I wish I still had all my men._

"At ease, men." The CPT began his brief. "As you may well know, the assault on Pyongyang is taking place today. We're going to kick some commie ass!"

"Hooah!" many men shouted.

"Now our mission during the assault is to take the research facility that has been traced as the source of the cyber-attack that caused the internet blackout. I know many of you men were very angry when the internet blacked out, because for many of you, it meant you couldn't watch whatever sick and twisted porn you get off to for a week. Fortunately, we get the honor of bringing pain and death to those who took the internet away from us." The CPT proceeded to give a vague description of the plan, and each platoon's mission. "Third Platoon, you will be assaulting the central control center, with Fourth Platoon in support. I know I can trust you men with this important task. Be careful not to destroy any sensitive or important technology, as the brass would like to get their hands on some of it."

The men split up into platoons for formal operations orders briefs. The mission was clear, capture and secure the facility. The step-off would be at 1400. After the brief, 2LT Joseph called up his PSG.

"What do you think about this one, Sergeant?" He was anxious for his answer. SFC Harrison had served three combat tours in Afghanistan before this.

"Are you asking for my honest opinion, sir?"

"Yes."

"Well, L-T, I've been on some tough missions, but this one takes the cake. Spearheading an assault into the enemy's capital? We may not even make it into the city before we get rendered combat ineffective."

Thinking deeply about this, 2LT Joseph prayed for the strength to pull through.


	2. War

War

 _He was right. He was goddamned right. Why the fuck did he have to be right?_

2LT Joseph cursed his PSG in his mind for his correct intuition. SFC Harrison was just killed in action. To be specific, a 23mm round from a North Korean chain gun clipped his head right off. This was not the only problem for 2LT Joseph. He lost his RTO, legs blown off by a mortar shell. 2nd Squad was completely mowed down in a long burst of grazing fire. At the moment, he had only 15 men left. 3rd Platoon was combat ineffective, but spearheading the assault meant they could not pull back.

The remains of his platoon had just made it to a large bridge spanning the Taedong river. Their objective, the research facility, was not too far from the other end of the bridge. The immediate problem that they faced was the North Korean troops dug in across the bridge, as well as the North Korean engineers on the bridge attempting to demolish the bridge. Luckily, they were doing a fairly good job at suppressing the engineers, but with ammo running low, they couldn't keep that up for much longer. 2LT Joseph decided to act.

"Campbell, Gunnar, Dunn! I want you to stay here and provide us with covering fire. Man the 2-40 Bravo!"

"Yes, sir!"

"The rest of you, we are going to move up. We have to take the bridge before the enemy blows it. Leonardo!"

"Sir?"

"I need you to run back to the forward observer attached to Fourth Platoon. Give this to him."

He handed the private a folded piece of paper.

"This is a fire-mission I _need_ Division Artillery to complete. Now go! Covering fire!"

He began to fire his M4 in rapid succession, and the rest of his men followed suit. PFC Leonardo sprinted out of the group, back to friendly lines.

"Alright, let's get moving! Sergeant Campbell, I want suppressing fire on that machinegun nest on my command!"

He looked at his men. They were all covered in dirt and blood. Some were shivering and looked pale. He had to lead by example if he expected his men to follow.

"Now!" He hopped over the concrete wall they were using as cover, and sprinted onto the bridge. He took cover behind a wrecked tank, a North Korean Type 59. He saw his men moving to do the same. Two got cut down. He peeked over the vehicle and saw the machine gun nest firing at his men. He pulled the pin on one of his grenades. Standing up, he threw the grenade at it, landing inside and blowing the operators to smithereens.

He ducked behind cover and waited a few seconds. He stood up again and rushed forward, firing his weapon at enemy positions, his men following suit. Two more dropped.

 _I'm losing too many men!_

He slid into a maintenance trench at the center of the bridge. Two North Korean engineers working on the detonator. 2LT Joseph fired two rounds into the back of one. The other turned to look at the lieutenant. Joseph aimed and pulled the trigger, which ended with a dissatisfying 'click'. His gun had jammed!

The engineer rushed and tackled him, and tried to stab him with a knife. Joseph caught his arm before the knife could stab him. 2LT Joseph grunted, straining to push the knife away. The North Korean engineer was bony, and looked malnourished. His face was dirty, his teeth were yellow, and his eyes were bloodshot.

 _Goddamned ugly gook!_

The engineer wasn't too strong, so 2LT Joseph used his free hand to punch the North Korean in the face, and pushed him off. The lieutenant then drew his sidearm and shot the engineer twice in the chest. The North Korean fell onto his back.

With a sigh of relief, 2LT Joseph holstered his pistol, picked up his rifle, and cleared the jam, a simple stovepipe. He dropped the magazine and slipped in a new one. He looked back to see four of his men in the trench with him.

"Sir, if we keep rushing, we'll all be dead before we reach the end of the bridge."

"You're right, Sergeant. We'll hole up here until that fire support comes in. What's our ammo situation?"

"I'm black, the Specialists and Private here are red."

"Damn, I only got one mag left myself."

Just then, a 7.62mm round passed through the SSG's head. Blood, skull fragments, and brain matter flew everywhere.

"Fuck!"

The other soldiers looked just as disgusted as 2LT Joseph was.

"That fire support better come in fucking soon."

Coincidentally, the fire support came in just as the words left his mouth. The trenches on the other side of the bridge got hammered by artillery shells. Incoming fire became sporadic at best. The remaining enemy forces began to retreat. The men started to cheer. The LT himself was smiling.

He looked back to his men at the end of the bridge and motioned for them to move up. Their smiles, showing their gleaming white teeth, shone through the dreary backdrop of their dirty faces, the cloudy weather, and the war. The victory was sweet. When they started to cross the bridge, he turned back. That's when he saw it.

Him, the North Korean soldier 2LT Joseph had shot with his pistol, detonator in hand. 2LT Joseph raised his rifle to shoot, but it was too late. The engineer squeezed the detonator as he said something to the lieutenant. It probably was the Korean equivalent of "Fuck you". 2LT Joseph pulled the trigger just as the bridge began to shake. The bullet passed right between the North Korean's eyes, and his body went limp.

The whole bridge vibrated as it began to collapse. 2LT Joseph tried to brace himself, squatting down to shift his center of gravity lower.

 _This is it. I'm gonna die._

Each truss junction shattered as if it were in slow motion, starting from the center, then moving outwards. The center of the bridge, where 2LT Joseph stood, caved first. He fell into the Taedong River, the bridge collapsing around him. He sank down into the river and almost drowned. He dropped his rifle, helmet, and stripped off his tactical vest. He surfaced, and swam to shore. He looked for any of his men, but only saw a single body floating down the river next to him. He pulled it in.

It was PFC Dunn. His face was pale, purple veins showing through. His eyes were bloodshot, staring straight forwards: the infamous thousand-yard stare. He was dead.

2LT Joseph began to tear up. He began to cry.


	3. Searching for Clues

Search for Clues

Having regained his composure, 2LT Joseph took stock of the current situation. His platoon, as far as he could tell, was all dead. Well, except for possibly PFC Leonardo, but he was on the other river bank, with 4th Platoon. 2LT Joseph was alone.

He lost his rifle, as well as his tactical vest and helmet in the river. All he had were the clothes on his back and the M17 service pistol in its holster. He was also soaking wet. In the sub-freezing weather, he had to shed his wet clothes or he would catch hypothermia in no time. With this in mind, he decided to move.

He climbed up off the river bank and towards their objective, the research facility. He hoped other parts of A Company had made it to the facility. After traveling for a couple minutes, the tall, gray, concrete structure that housed the facility was in sight. He could see no movement or action occurring within or around the facility. The immediate area was quiet, but the sounds of warfare in the distance acted as a constant background noise.

2LT Joseph spotted a body on the road. He moved to it and attempted to identify it.

 _Army Special Forces. This man was a Green Beret._

He rolled the body over. A bullet hole in the center of the neck was identified the cause of death. The deceased was identified as SSG Rickenbacker. He was quite well equipped, with a Modular Body Armor Vest and a MICH TC-2002 helmet and attached PSQ-20 NVGs used by special forces. Unfortunately, this body armor did not prevent the fatal bullet from killing the SSG. His uniform was all Multicam, not much different from the OCP pattern of 2LT Joseph's ACUs. He checked for a radio, and found one, a PRC-148, but it was destroyed by a bullet, which it managed to catch. It seemed unfortunate, that SSG Rickenbacker still died after being saved by his radio.

 _Am I really going to do this?_

2LT Joseph dragged the body of the soldier into the nearest building, and stripped him. He then stripped himself, and put the soldier's dry clothes on himself. He then put on all of the soldier's gear, replacing the soldier's patches with his own. He then neatly folded his wet ACUs, and placed them next to the soldier's body.

"He was a good man, and he did his duty to the best of his ability. He deserved better. May God have mercy on his soul."

 _I'll come back for him when I can._

The young lieutenant then picked up the dead man's rifle and examined it for a few moments. It was a SCAR Mk 17 Mod 0 battle rifle with a Mk 13 Mod 0 grenade launcher, PEQ-15, and EOTech 518.2 with magnifier. 2LT Joseph recalled a weapons demonstration he took part in back at Ranger School, this was one of the rifles he had the opportunity to shoot. He quickly refamiliarized himself with the weapon system, and then familiarized himself with the layout of the tactical vest.

 _This will work. Time to move._

He exited the building, and moved with haste from cover to cover, towards the facility. His tactical movement was unnecessary, as the streets were abandoned, lacking both enemy soldiers and civilians. He reached the facility and found the entrance doors blown off, seemingly by a breeching charge. 2LT Joseph entered to find a long hallway filled with many dead North Korean soldiers. He walked cautiously along. He peeked into the few rooms with their doors open. In one of them, he spotted a dead American.

 _Another Green Beret._

He entered and checked the name tape.

 _Sergeant O'Neally._

The operator had taken multiple rounds to both the chest and arms.

 _This is strange, we would never leave our soldiers bodies, not if we won._

This thought displeased the lieutenant greatly, as the possibility of the entire Special Forces unit getting wiped out seemed more and more plausible. He checked for a radio, but in the radio pouch he found nothing. He checked the sergeant's hands and found a device. It was not a radio, but something else, something much smaller. He took the small electronic device. It was white with black buttons, and had a small LCD screen with a couple of buttons underneath. It had a belt clip attached to the top of the device. Upon flipping it over, he found the back of the device featureless, not even screw holes. He also did not find a seam on the device.

 _This is like one of those small, cheap, gaming knick-knacks you could get at the dollar store as a kid, but this is much higher quality._

He tried the buttons, but the device did not respond. He placed it in a grenade pouch, pulling the grenade out and hanging it on a MOLLE loop by the spoon. He moved back into the hallway and proceeded to the room at the end of the hall.

Upon opening the door, he found a massive room full of a variety of electronic equipment of industrial scale. He scanned the room, but saw nobody, more accurately nobody alive. There were, however, many bodies of dead soldiers, both friendly and enemy, as well as dead scientists and technicians. Upon examination, he found that although most wounds had been caused by bullets, a large amount were claw marks and bite marks. These wounds were of large proportion, caused by animals that had to be at least bear sized.

 _Did the North Koreans release captive animals during the attack?_

Nothing indicated that the facility housed captive animals, no cages or food bowls. But, he had not searched the entire building yet. He continued his examination. He found many Special Forces operators dead on the steps leading to the large arch shaped device at the center of the room. Almost all their wounds consisted of claw marks. Ignoring this, he searched for a radio. He found one intact and attempted to establish communication with friendly forces. He changed the radio to operational frequency and tried to raise his unit.

"All receiving, this is Alpha, Three – Six. Acknowledge. Over."

He waited, no response. He tried again.

"All receiving, this is Alpha Three – Six. Acknowledge. Over."

"Alpha Three – Six, this is Alpha Four – Six. Receiving. You are weak, but readable. Out."

2LT Joseph smiled. It was Fourth Platoon's PL.

"Alpha Four – Six. SITREP. Over."

"Alpha Three – Six. Alpha Company sustained heavy casualties. I am in command. We are combat ineffective, waiting on reinforcement. Lieutenant, what is your present status and location? Over."

"Alpha Four – Six. Third Platoon is wiped out. I am alone. I am on the objective. Grid Seven-Seven-Niner Two-Four-Two. Out."

He began to check the bodies for other things, but the radio cut in.

"Alpha Three – Six. GET OUT ASAP! CAS has been called on your position! ETA One Mike! Out!"

"FUCK!" The lieutenant quickly placed the radio into his radio pouch, picked up his rifle, and quickly ran towards the exit. He ran up the steps to the arch, as the doors he came through were on the other side. But, when he got onto the platform, his vest began to glow extremely bright. He stopped, looked down and noticed the glow was coming from a grenade pouch. He opened the pouch and took the device he had picked up earlier out. The screen was shining extremely bright, too bright to look at. He turned it upwards, and the light beam from the screen bent its way to the top of the arch, like a laser beam being bent by mirrors. The arch then began to glow, and the arch's interior began to fill with light. It formed into a spiral, and eventually filled out into an environment. The lieutenant, shocked, put the now dead device pack into his pouch and examined the arch. In front of him was what looked like a forest. He moved to a different angle, and it moved too. It was a…

 _A portal!_

2LT Joseph was awestruck. he walked up to it, and could feel the cold winter air meet him. He leaned his head in, to find that the edge of the portal where he stood was ten feet in the air in a forest.

 _How the fuck is this…_

The ground shook from a nearby explosion, and the lieutenant fell off the edge. He hit the ground legs first, rolling to prevent injury, but hit his head on the ground hard, knocking himself out. Another explosion occurred soon after, this one inside the building, destroying the arch and closing the portal. The lieutenant was stranded in this unknown environment.


	4. Human

Human

The sun shone from high above the treetops of the snow-covered forest. Along with the sun's rays, a small number of snowflakes permeated the air. The scene looked like the beginning of an intro to a winter holiday movie, minus the giant floating title blocks. The forest was relatively quiet, with the soft noise of pine tree branches swaying gently in the wind, the occasional pinecone dropping, and the feet of one individual moving in between the trees.

This individual was not a human, more animal-like in nature. The creature was fox-like, with golden colored fur covering most of its body. The rest of the fur was white, in certain areas like the tips of the ears, tail, the large tuft of chest fur, and along the torso, as well as the bottom half of the legs. This fox stood on two legs, walking upright much like a man, but with some deviation in leg angles and balance. On each leg was a swirling symbol composed of purple fur. The fox wore purple sleeves on the arms leading to its three fingered hands, each sleeve sporting yin-yang symbols. At the tips of the fingers and toes were large, black claws. The fox's eyes had piercing cyan irises and black scleras. Beneath each eye were purple, W shaped marks, in a position likened to the eye-black athletes wear.

The fox's eyes slowly panned across the surroundings as it walked through the snow-covered forest. Obviously, it was looking for something. It scanned the bases of the trees, looking for something on the ground.

 _I must find some sustainment today, I will not go hungry tonight, not again._

Also, in the recesses of its mind, it recalled the strange events that occurred recently. Loud noises, and machines, moving through the woods not too long ago. Keeping this in mind, it was cautious to avoid any confrontation with these machines before being able to gather more information. Walking slowly, eyes alert, it noticed a plant in the distance. The plant looked interesting, as it had hunks of meat growing off of it.

 _Excellent, that should last me a few days._

Letting hunger take over, it rushed, replacing caution with speed, towards the plant. The fox was moving quite fast, and with ease. The meat plant was about 100 yards away, and it only took it a matter of seconds to get there. Upon reaching the plant, it calmly caught its breath. Slowly, it picked off a chunk of the meat from the plant, sniffed it, and took a small bite.

"Mmmmmm…" It let out a small sound of pleasure upon tasting the food. The voice was distinctly feminine.

She proceeded to scarf down the rest of the meat hunk in a desperate attempt to satiate the prowling hinger she had. It seemed to work.

 _This was a good find. The rest of this plant, if I ration it properly, should last me the next few days._

She picked off the rest of the meat. Having no sack or bag, she simply carried the meat in her hands. Holding the amount she did, she had to walk carefully to prevent any from being dropped. She walked for some distance, resorting back to her cautious movement technique. During this walk, her ears perked up. She heard a strange noise. It started as a low hiss, then a large crack of static electricity, followed much later by a dull thud. Her senses piqued.

 _What was that? Could that be one of those machines? I must investigate._

She moved to a nearby tree, and put the meat down.

 _It's best not to be encumbered._

She moved slowly towards the source of the noise. Her ears were raised high to catch any more sounds from the source, but received none. Eventually, she came to a clearing. At the center of the clearing was a body.

 _Could this be a digimon?_

She waited. The body did not move. She tiptoed her way towards it. She also began her investigation. The body seemed to be a variety of natural earthy colors. Upon closer examination, it was not the body that was colored, but the clothing. The clothing was a bit strange, as there was a large vest had many pouches with various items inside. Also, on the head of the body was a helmet. Next to the body, clutched by one hand, was a box like stick with many protruding parts. But, most importantly, the body was a body of a…

 _A human! How can this be?_

This absolutely piqued female fox's interest, as she let out a gasp and scrambled to proceed with the investigation. She put her head near the human's head, and listened.

 _The human is breathing. Good._

She placed her hands, or paws, on the body of the human male and checked to see if anything was broken or bleeding. She found nothing wrong, other than him being knocked out. She tried to pick him up bridal style, but he was very heavy and she was unbalanced carrying him in this manner. She put him down and picked him up fireman style instead. The stick he had was attached to his vest by a stretchy string. It dragged in the ground, so she held it in her free hand. She began to walk.

 _I wonder how he got here. It's not easy for humans to get into the digital world. I should take him back to my abode. It will be better if he wakes there. I must find out how he got here, and why he is here. What if… is that how it works? What if he is my… tamer?_

Her eyes widened at the thought. A small smile appeared on her face. The thought pleased her to no end, because the whole way back, she smiled.


	5. Meeting

Meeting

The young lieutenant was slowly awoken to a semi-conscious state. His vision was heavily blurred, but he could see the sky below him and the ground above him. He noted that the ground was moving. He also noted the warm mass he was hanging from. He surmised that he was being carried, fireman style. His rifle was not in his hands, not that he had much control of them, and it upset him. The person carrying him was covered in yellow fur, probably a large fur coat. Noting this, he concluded that he was being carried by a civilian, as no soldier would be wearing a yellow coat in uniform, both friendly or enemy. He could not recall ever seeing anyone who wore a yellow fur coat, at least not in Korea. He tried to remember how he had gotten himself into this situation.

 _I was on the objective, alone. My platoon … …_

It pained him to remember his platoon had all died. He held himself to a moment of solemnity for their sake.

 _… I was… in a big room… with an arch. I radioed higher… they told me an airstrike was inbound. I ran, but stopped because… uh… … … I stopped in front of the arch because it opened a portal! …Did that really happen? I'm not so sure. And why did a portal open? It was because… of something I did. That device…_

2LT Joseph tried to reach for the pouch, but he could not move his arm. He strained to do so, but passed out from the effort.

* * *

"—ir?" A muffled voice came through the silence. "Sir?" The voice came in clearer now, but 2LT Joseph's vision was blurred.

"Lieutenant!" Joseph's vision cleared, he saw one of his men looking him in the face. It was his RTO, SPC Quinnlen. They were walking along a paved road. The specialist was waiting for a response from the lieutenant.

"What… is it, Quinnlen?" the lieutenant asked. He was out of the loop on everything at the moment. He couldn't remember what he or the other men were doing other than walking along the road.

"Sir, Captain Derrick is on the line, he wants to know how the advance along Route 2 is progressing. What do you want me to tell him?" The lieutenant stopped walking for a moment. From farther back in the formation, his PSG noticed this, and raised his left hand, causing the entire formation to halt.

"Let me speak to the captain." the lieutenant said slowly, but dutifully. His RTO handed him the radio.

"Alpha Six, this is Alpha Three – Six Actual. Go ahead, over." The lieutenant was snapping back into things.

"Alpha Three – Six Actual. What is the present status of your advance? Over."

"Alpha Six. Advance is proceeding as planned. We have just passed phase line Budweiser and have yet to make contact with the enemy. Will report when contact is made. Out." The lieutenant handed the radio back to his RTO. He raised his left hand, and gestured forward. His men stood up, and continued to advance.

"Quinnlen, can you go check on the PSG? See if he has anything to report."

"Yes, sir." The specialist started jogging towards the rear of the formation.

When he got about 20 yards back, an explosion occurred in front of him. His legs got blown off.

"Quinnlen!" The lieutenant yelled out.

"CONTACT!" One of the men yelled out. "Mortars! Get off the road!"

The men began to run off the road, either into a drainage ditch on one side, or the embankment on the other. The lieutenant, however, ran to SPC Quinnlen. He slung his rifle onto his back and picked Quinnlen off the ground by grabbing him under his arm pits and started to drag him off the road.

"MEDIC!" he yelled. "Quinnlen, you're gonna be alright, you hear me?!"

Mortar shells continued to explode around them.

"Sir, I- ah…" He struggled. His breaths were heavily labored. "I don't think…" He coughed up blood. "…I will." He closed his eyes, and his body went limp.

"DAMNIT!" the lieutenant screamed as he clenched his eyes shut. Another mortar shell exploded close by.

* * *

2LT Joseph awoke in a cold sweat, finding himself in a bed. He looked around the room, and found it to be sparsely decorated. The room was made of wood, it had a wood ceiling, wood walls, and a wood floor. There was an open metal fire pit in the center of the room, with an opening in the ceiling to vent the smoke. The fire in it was burning well; whoever was tending it was not there, but could not have left too long before. There were crude wood furnishings within the room, a table with two wood stools, and a couple cabinets. There was a crude wood door in the wall farthest from him. There was also an open-air window in the wall to his right.

2LT Joseph was covered by a simple blanket that was stained in multiple spots. He lifted it off to find the bed was a mix of straw and torn fabric, and the pillow he was resting on a canvas bag filled with straw. Evidently, the owner of this place was rather poor, at least according to the lieutenant's standards.

 _I had no idea that the North Koreans were living like this. This is practically medieval!_

Next to him he found his rifle, attached to him by a one-point sling. He was surprised that the home's owner had left him with the rifle. He was also in all his gear, including his helmet.

 _He could have at least taken off my helmet before he tucked me in. God, my neck is sore._

He took off his helmet and stretched his neck out. He unclipped his rifle and leaned it against the bedframe. He got out of bed and took off his plate carrier. Now unencumbered, he stretched his entire body. Once fully stretched, he moved to the window. Upon looking out, he saw that the building was about fifteen feet off the ground.

 _Woah, it's a treehouse!_

He could see forest for miles. He was nowhere near Pyongyang. He stepped back from the window and walked to his plate carrier. He pulled out the radio and tried to use it. It was dead. He tried to remove the battery, but it was stuck. After a closer examination, he found the battery was fused to the radio; the electronics of the radio were fried.

 _Damnit._

He tossed the useless radio onto the bed, and decided to search the room. Walking to the table, he found nothing on it. He walked to the cabinets. He opened one, and found it was empty. He opened the other, and found on one shelf a simple brush, as well as some crude utensils. Below it he found some crude writing utensils and rough paper with drawings. They were childlike drawings of a fox and a man. They were smiling and seemed to be dancing about. He flipped the paper and found some writing.

 _"Someday I will find my partner. I will..." Wait, this is in English! How can that be?_

He began to hear steps in the snow coming from below. He quickly, but quietly, placed the paper in the cabinet and closed it, grabbed his rifle, and moved to the window. He leaned out and looked below. He did not see anyone. Just then a dull thud came from behind the door. Startled, he turned and pointed his rifle at it. The door slowly opened and…

 _Holy shit._

A bipedal yellow fox walked in. It was carrying a large amount of meat in its arms. Its eyes were wide open.

"Oh…um…Hello." A clearly feminine voice carried her words out of her mouth.

"H… Hi." 2LT Joseph responded. His eyes were wide with disbelief.

"Well…I did not expect you to awake while I was gone." She placed the pile of meat onto the table. She seemed unfazed by the rifle he was pointing directly at her. "I wanted to be here when you awoke, but I had to get the food I had left where I had found you." She started to walk towards him.

"STOP, or I'LL SHOOT!" She stopped.

"Why, what's wrong? Have I done something to upset you?" Her inquiries were sincere.

"Who… and what, are you?" His face softened, but his rifle was still trained at her head.

"Oh, forgive me, I have yet to introduce myself. I am Renamon, and I am a digimon." She extended her paw-like hand slowly forward in a respectful gesture of introduction. 2LT Joseph watched cautiously, and reluctantly obliged, lowering his rifle.

"Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L, Third Platoon, Alpha Company, Second Battalion, Twenty-Second Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team, Tenth Mountain, U.S. Army…Ma'am." He shook her hand.

"You have quite a long name, Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L, Thir-"

He interrupted her. "You can just call me Lieutenant Joseph…" He paused. "Or Mike. Now, what is a digi-uh… digi-thing?"

"Oh, sorry. I was just so excited, I forgot that most humans do not know about us." She sat down on one of the stools.

"Yeah…" He interjected, with an air of uncertainty in the present situation, and in what he had believed. He moved over and sat in the other stool.

"Well, digimon are beings, like myself, that live within the digital plane. There are many varieties of digimon that live all across the world. This world is our home."

"Digital plane? What do you mean? I haven't ever heard of you before, how can you guys live across the whole world, how is it 'your' world? Do you own the world?"

"Well, digimon make up the majority of the sentient beings living on this world, so in a collective sense, I suppose we do 'own' the world; much like you humans 'own' the real world."

"What do you mean the real world? This is the real world… unless I'm dreaming." He pondered the thought a little, then slapped himself across the face. "I have to wake up!"

"Please, just listen." She commanded in a firm tone. "This is not the world you come from. This is the digital world. It is the world that was created by your telecommunications networks, the internet." She paused. "How did you get here?"

"What? No, that can't… be…" He stopped and pondered again. He started to piece together the facts.

 _That isn't the worst explanation for all this weird shit going on. I'm talking to a goddamned fox right now. I gotta take this all at face value._

"I… I fell through some sort of portal and got knocked out. Then I woke up here."

"Where did the portal come from?"

"I… don't know. I just remember it was caused by something I had… Let me think…" She waited in earnest for his answer.

He stood up and walked over to the bed. She stood up as well, and followed him. He knelt onto the bed and rifled through his plate carrier. He opened a certain grenade pouch that no longer held a grenade, but a strange device. Looking over his shoulder to Renamon, he held it up.

"It was caused by this." Kneeling right behind him, leaning onto his back, she examined it from a close distance with her eyes widening with astonishment.

"Do you know what this is?" She asked, with a voice full of eagerness.

"No, what is it?"

"It is a digivice! That means you are a tamer! Do you have a partner yet?" She inquired, poorly hiding a brewing smile.

"Tamer? And what do you mean a partner?"

"Tamers develop a special relationship with a digimon partner, that goes with them and protects them from harm. They are bonded with a digivice." 2LT Joseph raised an eyebrow.

"Then no, I guess I don't have a partner." Renamon got off the bed and lowered a knee, in a respectful gesture of honorable submission. 2LT Joseph turned around, confused.

"Second Lieutenant Michael Joseph, P-L of the Third Platoon of the Alpha Company of the Second Battalion of the Twenty-Second Infantry of the First Brigade Combat Team of the Tenth Mountain of the U-S Army, may I, Renamon, be your partner, humble protector and companion? You would have my utmost loyalty, and I would defend your honor and your life with my own." She bowed her head.

The lieutenant was caught off-guard by such an audacious request from someone, a digimon, he had just met. He was confused, but understood the gravity of such a request.

 _Hearts and Minds, Mike. I'm alone in a completely alien world, it's best I make friends where I can._

He got off the bed stood in front of her.

"Stand up. I'm a soldier, I'm not a king. You don't have to kneel in front of me to show respect." She stood up, keeping her head bowed, waiting for an answer. He stood silently for a few long moments. "Yes. I accept." She looked up at him with watery eyes.

"Thank you." She managed a whisper from her crackling voice, overfilled with joy.

"But listen, I think I'm going to be the one defending you, not the other way around. I'm the trained soldier here, one with combat experience." He paused, recalling his recent experience in combat. "I won't risk losing you under my command, I've lost enough already. My platoon…" He stopped.

The digivice was now glowing brightly, much like when it opened the portal. They both watched as it floated out of the lieutenant's hands and rose to above them both. Two beams of light shot out of the digivice in opposite directions, one connecting with 2LT Joseph's head, and the other with Renamon's head. The light beams passed energy through both individuals, causing both to tense up. It only lasted a couple seconds. Once the beams ceased, the digivice beeped, and in a robotic voice, spoke.

"Tamer, Michael Joseph. Digimon, Renamon. Partnership created." The device's glow slowly faded and it floated back down into 2LT Joseph's hands. It had changed colors, now sporting a yellow body with purple accents, matching Renamon.

"Wow…" The lieutenant stood astonished. "That was… uh… something!"

"Yes, now we are officially partners." Renamon observed.


	6. Concept of Operations

Concept of Operations

After the excitement of the recent events died down a little, the lieutenant decided to set up a course of action.

"I need to link back up with American forces." He paused, searching his mind for a reasonable solution to the problem at hand. "I'm not sure how to do that. Renamon?" Her ears perked up and she looked at him with a focused stare.

"Yes, my tamer?" Her use of the word tamer to describe him made the lieutenant a bit uncomfortable, but he reluctantly accepted the title.

"Have you ever seen any other humans here before?"

"No." She thought more on the question. "Although, I did hear the movement of strange machines through the woods only a few days ago."

"Really? What kind of machines?"

"I'm not exactly sure. I did not manage to see them, as I was hoping to evade them. There seemed to be many of them though, and voices conversing. They did not speak in English."

"Hmm…" _I'm not so sure about what that could be. If it were a military unit, I'd say an enemy motorized or mechanized company. But, it could be non-military related._

"Could they have been digimon?"

"I doubt so. Digimon rarely travel in such large numbers, or with machines."

"I believe it could have been an enemy mechanized unit. If I could track it, I could find how this unit is linked to the rest of their military. They probably have an arch portal of their own."

 _This is the only course of action I have available that wouldn't involve desertion. It is very dangerous though._

"What are you thinking, tamer?" Renamon was waiting in earnest for his decision, she was excited to go an adventure with her new tamer.

"I will track the movement of this mechanized unit, and hopefully find their C-P. From there, I would be able to find out if I have any chance of getting back to my unit. I'll have to play it by ear." He considered her role in the course of action he just outlined. "Renamon?"

"Yes?" Most of what he said flew over her head, but he seemed to have his plan thought out.

"Would you be able to take me to where you heard the machines?"

"Yes, what did you have in mind?"

"When we get there, we would then search for track or tire treads, and I would be able to find out where they were headed. After that, I would follow the tracks and you would go home."

"Wait, we would split up? Why would I go home?" She did not want to separate from her newfound tamer, she wanted to go wherever he went.

"This mission is very dangerous. I would be tracking a mechanized unit that by far outnumbers and outguns me. You don't need to go along, you would probably get hurt or killed. The same goes for me, but I have to."

"I am going with you; all the way. I'm not heading back here."

"Don't you understand?" the lieutenant was frustrated with her stubbornness. He did not want her to become a liability in the field. "This is dangerous, and you have no reason to be out there with me. Why don't you just head back here after and go back to living like normal?"

"No!" This upset her. She was ready to go out and fight and possibly die for her new tamer, but he acted like they weren't even partners. "Don't you understand? We are PARTNERS! We are supposed to travel together and protect each other, no matter what. I cannot protect you while I stay here. I have been waiting for this moment my whole life, I've been training my whole life for this. I will not go back to 'normal' life. We are partners, and partners are forever."

 _Damnit, Mike. You've pissed off your only friend here._

The lieutenant reached out and put his hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her. She gave him an agitated look. "Alright, you can go with me. I just didn't want you to get hurt is all. I want to keep you safe."

Renamon pondered his sentiment, and came to accept his reasons. She slightly distanced herself from him socially, due to the strain he caused in their relationship. They ate, and prepared for a long excursion, with the thought that it was probably a one-way trip.

"Let's ruck up and roll out." The lieutenant led the way.


	7. Hasty Ambush

Hasty Ambush

"Damnit Quinnlen, don't die on me!" The lieutenant continued to drag the lifeless body of his radio operator along the pavement in a hopeless attempt to save his life.

"LIEUTENANT! Get off the damn road!" SFC Harrison bellowed out from the ditch next to the road.

"I gotta help Quinnlen, Sergeant!" Stubbornly, the 2LT Joseph kept dragging his RTO's corpse.

"He's GONE, L-T! Come on! Get off the road!" The lieutenant looked down at SPC Quinnlen's legless corpse, and the fact of his death sank in.

"Goddamnit." He grabbed the radio, dropped the body, and ran to the ditch, sliding in next to his PSG.

"Are you alright, L-T?"

"I was here when he just got here, fresh from A-I-T."

"I know it's hard, sir, but he's gone now. We can't change that." The SFC gave the 2LT a look of consolation. "This is accurate mortar fire. We have to find their spotters."

The lieutenant nodded slightly, but he had a blank stare.

"Sir?" No response. "L-T?" Nothing. "Mike?... Mike!"

* * *

"Mike!" An urgent whisper registered in the lieutenant's ears.

"What?" He snapped out of his trance, looking around quickly, eyes wide, to find the source of the disturbance. His eyes settled on his digimon partner, Renamon.

"I sense a digimon nearby, and I don't think it's friendly." The lieutenant panned his head, trying to spot the potential hostile.

"Okay, let's move to some cover ant try to get eyes on. Do you know where the…" When the lieutenant looked back to his partner, she wasn't there anymore. "Renamon?" He did a whole 360º in hopes of spotting her, but found nothing. "Shit."

The lieutenant moved to the edge of a small clearing, in hopes of finding his partner there. Instead, he saw in the distance… something else. He crouched behind a small evergreen sapling, and peered at his discovery.

2LT Joseph was observing a large bug-like creature, standing out amongst the trees, from quite a distance away, using the scope on his rifle. The bug was larger than man sized, probably about eight feet tall. It had head with no visible eyes and a large pair of mandibles in front of a snarling mouth. It had six insect legs, but each had a claw-like hand at the end. It stood on only two of them, with the rest free to move at its sides. It was sniffing for something, probably the Lieutenant and his partner.

 _Where the fuck is she?_

The lieutenant's digivice started to vibrate, so he grabbed it and looked at it. The screen lit up with information.

"Kuwagamon, an insect digimon, virus type." he whispered to himself. More auxiliary information was presented, but he decided not to read the rest.

Looking back up, he noticed the insect was looking straight at him. He then noticed it was visibly closer than before. He deduced that it was moving at a slow, steady pace towards him.

"Fuck."

He flipped the safety of his rifle off and aimed at the bug's head. *BANG* The rifle round connected with the target, and bounced off. The insect, seemingly undamaged by the bullet, yet quite a bit angrier, snarled and moved at a considerably faster pace. It started about 150 yards away from 2LT Joseph, but it was now within 100 yards and closing fast. Joseph emptied the rest of the magazine, pumping round after round out, each one bouncing off like the first, in a futile attempt to stop, or even slow, the bug creature down.

"Shit, shit, shit, shIT, SHIT!"

*Whoomp* He fired a grenade from his grenade launcher at it. The grenade connected, and exploded on the bug's chest. This stopped the creature, but only for a few short seconds. It screeched out, and began to charge at 2LT Joseph's position.

"Fuck, Renamon! Where are you!?" he yelled out as he reloaded his rifle's magazine and struggled to reload his grenade launcher. With a fresh grenade in the chamber, he looked back up to see the menacing creature only 15 yards away. He could see the insect in much more detail and was much more afraid than he was before. He fell to his back and fired the grenade launcher once again. The round also connected, and caused the creature to stop once more.

"Diamond Storm!" a voice yelled out from high above the ground, as a rain of glowing crystals began to pelt the bug from the direction of the voice. The crystals stuck to the creature, and once the rain ended, the crystals all exploded in unison. The lieutenant covered his eyes for a moment. Dust and smoke filled the air, and caused a short period of zero visibility. He coughed a few times in response.

 _What the fuck was that?_

Once the dust settled and the smoke cleared, he saw the bug creature, Kuwagamon, visibly wounded from the previous attack, and Renamon, his digimon partner, standing between him and the bug creature, staring it down.

"I will not let you harm my tamer." she calmly stated.

"Must… Kill…" the creature menaced in a raspy voice. The bug let out another screech and charged her. She quickly jumped fifteen feet into the air just before it tackled her. Upon reaching the apogee of her jump, she balled her right paw into a fist and pulled her arm back as she turned to face the bug creature.

"Power Paw!" she yelled out. Her fist began to glow with a blue aura. The bug creature looked up just in time to be greeted with a powerful punch to the face. The bug let out a whine and stepped backwards as it covered its wounded face with its higher set of arms. Renamon continued to assault the creature, circling it and attacking with a fury of punches and kicks, moving much faster than humanly possible. The wounded bug tried to block these attacks with its lower set of arms, but the attempts were fruitless.

During the engagement, 2LT Joseph moved to a better position, one which he had good line of sight on the bug creature's back. The bug then managed to knock Renamon off itself with a strong swing of his lower arms. She flew back into a tree a several feet away.

 _Ouch! That looked like it hurt._

Visibly shaken, she struggled to stand back up. The bug, seemingly aware of the advantageous opportunity, charged at her. Renamon looked up, but seemed too disoriented to realize the mortal danger ahead of her.

"Renamon!"

*BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG* 2LT Joseph fired half of his magazine into the back of the creature, and the rounds did not bounce off this time, causing a much more desirable effect on the creature. It halted, whined, and turned around to face him.

"Oh, Fuck!" 2LT Joseph said, with a face of realization.

The bug creature charged at him. He fired another grenade at it, connecting again and causing it to stop.

"Diamond Storm!" Another set of crystals rained down onto the creature, and exploded. The creature screeched out one last time, and burst into a bunch of glowing particles, which floated towards Renamon as she slowly glided down onto the ground. The particles seemed to be absorbed by her. Her wounds sealed up and cleared up. The lieutenant stared in awe.

 _Holy shit._

Once the process was finished, Renamon walked over to the lieutenant.

"Are you alright, tamer?" she asked.

"Uhh … Yeah, I'm okay. I'm just really … confused." He paused to regain composure, but the puzzled look on his face remained. "What the hell just happened?"

"That was a hostile digimon. It attacked us so I destroyed it and absorbed its data." Renamon spoke in a plain tone, making him believe she thought he was supposed to understand what she just said.

"What do you mean absorbed his data?"

"It means I assimilated his data, after he was destroyed." She answered in a plainer tone than before.

"Okay." The young lieutenant did not fully understand what she meant, but accepted her answer to prevent a lengthy explanation from her, or worse, a strain in the shaky relationship they had with one another. There was another issue he had to resolve. "Renamon."

"Yes, tamer?"

"Why did you disappear when we discovered that … Ku-ag-uh… bug looking guy?"

"I rushed ahead to gather more information on him, and then attack him on my terms. He caught your scent first." She bowed her head. "I am sorry I did not come to your aid quicker. I should have noticed him start to move when he did. I di…"

"Hey, listen." He put a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to be ashamed of yourself for what happened. You did your best in the situation we were in. Both of us are new at this whole partners' thing, okay?" She looked back up at him with a slightly reassured look on her face. He stared into her eyes, noticing how her black scaleras contrasted her glowing blue irises.

He lost his train of thought for a few moments. She stared back at him in anticipation.

"But," he continued, "If we are going to be partners, we are going to have to understand each other more, and most importantly, communicate." She nodded. "You can't just run off like that without telling me what is going on." She lowered her head slightly in shame "Before you do anything like that, I want you to at least communicate your intent to me first. Communication is key." He took his hand off her shoulder and looked around.

"Let's go find somewhere to hunker down for a while so we can go over tactics." He paused, and sized her up. "We need to learn about each other's abilities so we can understand each other better." He smiled. She gave him a small smile back.

The young lieutenant, as always, led the way.


	8. Tactics

Tactics

"That's why I think it's best if I am relegated to a support role." the lieutenant said.

The two had been discussing tactics at length.

"You are much better at fighting the natives than I am, especially up close. If I ever have to use this for more than just a can opener," he pointed to his Gerber multi-tool, "we're in some serious shit." He gave a small grin.

She smiled and nodded, understanding that what he said was an attempt at humor, but was unsure how to react. She still did not know him very well. She wanted to become better acquainted with her tamer. She waited a little before she spoke.

"So, you are a soldier?"

"Yes."

"For the us army?" She tried to read his service tape.

"Huh?" He looked down at what she was looking at. "No, the U-S ARMY." He pointed to his service tape, pointing to the letters as he spoke the syllables. "That means United States Army. I'm a commissioned officer."

"What does that mean?"

"It means I went to school to learn how to lead large groups of men. I got my commission a year and a half ago, so I'm still just a Second Lieutenant."

"You are a leader of other soldiers?"

"Yeah, I am a P-L, A Platoon Leader."

"So where are your soldiers? Shouldn't you be with them?"

"Yeah, but…" The lieutenant was reminded of the assault on the bridge. He began to tear up, so he closed his eyes and held them back. "I lost my platoon in a bridge assault." His worlds were strained. "They're all dead."

"I'm so sorry, Mike." She put her hand on his back in an effort to console him. "I didn't mean to make you recall those events." Her remarks did little to comfort him, so she decided to change subjects.

"So… you are from the United States? Yes?"

"Yeah, American born and raised." He brightened up a little.

"I have heard about the United States before. It is one of the… countries?"

"Yeah."

"What is it like, the U-S, and the human world?"

"Well, it's… um… well… kinda different from here." He tried to think of a comparison, but didn't know enough about the digital world to make one. "I grew up in a small town, a suburb of a larger city. My parents were middle class, but I went to a school in a rather poor district." He went on about his upbringing, childhood, and eventual college days.

Renamon got to know a lot about her tamer. He was rather smart, he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class and was Cum Laude at college. He was athletic; in high school, he was a linebacker on the football team, power forward on the basketball team, and threw for the track and field team; in college, he played basketball for a club team. He spoke of the beginning of his Army career, the many schools he attended. She learned a few of his quirks through the stories he told.

"Renamon?"

"Yes?" She had wide eyes and a small smile.

"How did you grow up?"

* * *

(NOTE: Korean will be presented as the English translation, with the quotes being italicized, inside quotation marks.)

In a snow-covered forest clearing, a group of soldiers are leisurely walking. They seemed to lack the alertness level to be expected from soldiers.

 _"Why do we have to patrol around here?"_ said one soldier in distinct Korean. On his uniform's sleeve, a North Korean flag was present. _"We scared away all of those monsters, and obviously there aren't going to be people around here."_

 _"I wouldn't be so sure of that."_ another soldier said. He picked up something off the ground, which was partially covered in snow. " _This is an enemy hand grenade."_ He showed the object to the rest of the soldiers. He handed it to his commander, who grimaced.

 _"Keep alert, men! There are enemy soldiers out here somewhere."_ He radioed back to his headquarters. _"Code Orange. Enemies have breached the digital plane. Evidence had been found to support this."_

At the headquarters, a high-ranking officer seemed rather upset about the news. _"If the enemy finds our facility, the project will be threatened with destruction. We have gotten so far, and are almost complete, the enemy must not be allowed to interfere. Order the men to find the enemy and destroy him without mercy!"_ A lower-ranking officer nodded and left quickly. _"These heathens will not interfere with this project. The glory of True Korea is at stake!"_


	9. History

History

"What do we have, here?" A sinister voice pondered. It was hard to see, there was smoke obscuring the area. The smoke was coming from the many burning wooden buildings.

"Are you trying to hide from me?" The voice spoke again. The smoke had cleared a little, revealing a small fox-like creature cowering under the rubble of a collapsed shack.

"You shouldn't do that, hiding only makes it worse." The voice laughed. The voice belonged to a large, male humanoid figure, hovering a foot above the ground. He was dressed in tattered white clothing, and had large, tattered wings. He looked much like a comic book super-villain.

"IceDevimon plays a lot more rough with those who hide from him." The cowering fox shook more frantically, knowing full well that something very bad was in store for it.

"Whoops, were you using that?" IceDevimon said as he flung away the debris that the small fox was hiding under.

"HELP!" The little fox cried out in a juvenile voice.

"Too late for that. I have a lot of fun things in store for you." He reached his long, out-of-proportion arm down to have his clawed hands grab the little furball.

"Not so fast! Howling Blaster!" A large beam of blue flames struck IceDevimon from the side, knocking him over. A large, white-and-blue, wolf-like creature followed the beam, pouncing on the knocked over evil-doer.

"Garurumon! You saved me!" The little fox exclaimed.

"That's what he'd like to think." IceDevimon said. Recovering from the attack, he knocked the wolf off himself, turning the tables.

"Viximon! Leave now! Escape while you can!" Garurumon cried out before IceDevimon tackled him. IceDevimon began to choke him.

"NO! Garurumon! I will help you!" Viximon cried. She jumped up in an attempt to headbutt the evil creature, only to be swatted away by a flap of his wing.

"You are too weak, fur-ball." IceDevimon menaced. "I'll deal with you once I'm done with _him._ " He indicated the helpless wolf in his grasp.

"Go…" Garurumon barely managed whisper out of his mouth. Viximon teared up, and quickly ran into the woodline.

"I'll get you, like the rest of you fur-balls. More specimens for the collec…" IceDevimon yelled out after her, his voice trailing off as Viximon ran deeper into the woods.

* * *

Renamon thought deeply about her past, pondering what it was like for her to grow up. It seemed very different from how her tamer described his past. Much more strife, much more violent. She wandered if he would be able to understand. She looked at him. He was waiting in earnest for a reply.

"Well, the earliest memories I have were as a Relemon in the daycare of my home village. I do not recall having parents. I do not rightly know if digimon have parents as you described yours. I suppose my parents were Garurumon and Lilymon. They were the keepers of the daycare and were village elders. Their jobs were to care for and train the young digimon who resided in the village. Garurumon taught survival and practical skills, while Lilymon taught myths, history, and philosophy. Those were the happy times." Renamon smiled as she recollected her youth.

"I was friends with many of the other in-training digimon in the daycare. We ate and played games together. We each digivolved from our fresh forms, myself digivolving from Relemon to Viximon. We grew stronger and smarter together. That all lasted a few years." Her smile faded from her face. 2LT Joseph became concerned.

"One day, the village was attacked by a group of virus-types. They were led by a brutal commander, IceDevimon. They burned down the village and killed most of the elders. Many fled, but many others were captured and enslaved. The daycare was raided. IceDevimon liked to freeze in-training digimon and put them in his collection. I barely managed to escape with my life because of the gallant actions of Garurumon." She began to tear up. "He sacrificed himself for me." She started to sob.

2LT Joseph was shocked at the sad details of the burning of her village, and shocked to see her cry. He couldn't help but realize how safe he had been growing up. He knew being an American had its privileges, but didn't think Renamon grew up in some sort of digital third world country in a civil war. He hugged her, letting her cry into his shoulder.

"I'm so sorry for what happened to you as a child." He consoled. "I won't make you go into any more detail, okay? I'm here for you."

"Thank you, Mike." She sniffled, trying to compose herself better. She moved on, talking about the rest of her life after that.


	10. Contact

_**Message from the Author:** Thank you for reading my story so far. I've been working on this story for the better end of two years now. I've only posted it recently to make sure there was a good amount of the story to begin with, and to make sure most of the kinks, typos, and errors were worked out, as well as to make sure it read well. This is my first FanFiction, and I am still learning how to write **well**. New chapters may take a while to be posted due to these reasons. I want the best version of this story to be posted here, so bare with me. Thanks again for reading, here's the next chapter._

* * *

Contact

After the pair learned about each other's histories, they felt much better connected with one another. Understanding time was of the essence, they continued their trek.

"This is where I was when I heard the noise of the machines." The pair was situated at the bottom of a small embankment. "I hid here to avoid being spotted. The noise came from that direction." Renamon pointed towards the embankment.

"Okay, we should move in that direction until we find tracks. We should be more cautious during our movement; the enemy has been operating in this area. I'll lead. Do as I do."

The lieutenant swung his rifle to his back, and climbed up the side of the short embankment, which was only about 10 feet tall. Upon reaching the top, he scanned the area. Spotting no signs of intelligent life, he looked down the embankment and signaled for his partner to move up. She jumped to the top of the embankment with ease.

"I wish I could do that." the lieutenant commented. "Let's move."

The pair moved cautiously through the woods. The lieutenant, leading, was careful to avoid stepping on branches and such, as to make less noise. His partner moved behind him, stepping where he had previously stepped. They traveled for almost half a mile like this, until they reached some vehicle tracks in a much more thinly wooded area.

"Tracks." 2LT Joseph whispered. He moved to them and examined them.

"There are both tire and tread tracks here." He told his partner. "From the direction of the tread marks, it seems they were moving this way." He indicated the direction of travel with his arm. "This couldn't have been more than a company sized element."

They handrailed the tracks, making sure to keep a decent distance away from them in case enemies were still on them. They moved along for some distance, eventually coming to an intersection with a trail. The trail was improved with gravel. The lieutenant signaled halt.

"This is a road. An improved road. It is definitely used regularly." The lieutenant pondered for a moment. "Renamon, do digimon make roads like this?"

"No. I've never seen anything like this before." She moved closer to get a better look at the road, her curiosity piqued. She found it interesting how the road had two paths, each individually covered in gravel, separated by a small median. All the trails she had seen and used before were simple dirt paths.

"Renamon, what are you doing?!" The lieutenant loudly whispered. "You're compromising our security!" He began to move up to her position.

"Vee Headbutt!" A juvenile voice rang out. Renamon looked just in time to be greeted by a powerful headbutt by a short, blue figure. Its attack connected with her chest, sending her flying several yards back along the road.

"Shit." 2LT Joseph whispered to himself.

The lieutenant dove to the ground and flipped the safety off on his rifle. He aimed at the little monster and fired. The round clipped the tip of one of its floppy ears. It quickly scurried behind a tree. 2LT Joseph fired a couple more rounds into the tree. Renamon, recovering from the surprise attack, tracked the rounds fired into the tree. She moved to attack the creature.

*BANG* *BANG BANG BANG*

The lieutenant came under fire from further up the road. He rolled a few times until he was behind a tree. Meanwhile, the creature and Renamon fought in a fast-paced melee, throwing, dodging, and taking punches from each other.

 _That muzzle report was familiar._ The lieutenant thought. He fired a couple rounds in the general direction of the incoming fire. There was a short reply of a couple rounds, one hitting the tree he was hiding behind.

 _That was definitely an M4._

"AMERICAN. I'M AN AMERICAN." The lieutenant bellowed out.

"What unit!" A male voice yelled out in response. There was a quite distinguishable Korean accent.

"Twenty-Second Infantry, Tenth Mountain!"

"Ninth Infantry, Second I-D. KATUSA!"

"A KATUSA?! Pick up and get the fuck over here, soldier!"

The soldier got up and ran to the lieutenant's position. He was definitely a Korean, in an American uniform, with the South Korean flag patch on his shoulder. A KATUSA. The young man was of good build, and about 5-foot-8. Short by American standards, but average height for Koreans.

"That was some serious blue on blue there…" 2LT Joseph stood up and spied the rank on the soldier's IOTV. "Corporal."

"Sorry." The man stated. "I didn't think there was any friendlies out here…" The soldier spied the lieutenant's rank. He quickly assumed the position of attention and saluted.

"Corporal Ku, reporting, sir." The lieutenant returned the salute.

"At ease, Corporal." He eased up. "You're alright. I'm Lieutenant Joseph. We are going to have to have a long conversation sometime soon, but I've got to help my partner right now."

"Partner?" The corporal's curiosity piqued, and he also seemed to remember something.

"Yeah, she's being attacked by a little blue monster."

"Oh, you have a partner, too! That little blue devil is my partner, Veemon." He turned towards the road. "Veemon, break off and come here!" He yelled out.

"Renamon! Stop fighting and come to me!"

The two digimon stopped fighting and quickly jogged over to their respective partners, quite adverse to each other along the way.

"Why did you stop me from fighting her." The little blue one complained. "I was winning." Renamon seemed to find the comment distasteful, as well as untrue. The corporal had a sympathetic face.

"What do you need, my tamer." Renamon said to the lieutenant. She stood closely behind her tamer's right side, holding his left shoulder with her left hand as to prevent herself from assaulting Veemon. Veemon stood next to his tamer, visually taunting Renamon.

"This is Corporal Ku of the KATUSA's. They are South Korean Army soldier's attached to the Second I-D. He is a friendly. That is Veemon, his digimon partner." He nodded to the corporal.

"This is Lieutenant Joseph of the Tenth Mountain Divison. He is an American, and he is friendly. That is Renamon, his digimon partner." He looked down to Veemon, who was still tense. "They are friendly." He said again.

Renamon extended her hand to the corporal to shake his hand. He quickly responded with a handshake. "Nice to meet you, Corporal Ku. It is good to have friends around here."

Veemon, not wanting to be shown up, extended his hand out to 2LT Joseph. "Nice to meet ya, buddy." He smiled. The lieutenant shook his hand.

"Now you two better shake and make up." The lieutenant said. "I don't want any bad blood between us." The two shook hands, with Veemon much more agitated than Renamon.

"Now that that's all out of the way, we really need to have a long talk." The lieutenant said.


	11. Nightmares

Nightmares

"Mike! Snap out of it!" 2LT Joseph shook his head quickly and blinked a couple times. "Sir?"

"Sergeant." The lieutenant replied to his PSG, SFC Harrison. Explosions were occurring all around them while they lied in the drainage ditch next to the road.

"Accurate mortar fire, sir. We need to find and neutralize their spotters."

"Right, sergeant. We should have first squad push hard up the road, second squad push left, and third squad push right. Search and destroy. Fourth in reserve, pulled back to the rear, out of this mortar fire."

"Right, sir. You want me to relay that order?"

"Yes, sergeant. I will be with first squad, you stay with fourth with the rest of the headquarters element. Take the RTO's radio." He handed the SFC the radio. "Handle traffic with the company. I want radio communication on progress from each squad per SOP. Let's get this shit done."

They both got up at the same time, quickly jogging on the road in opposite directions.

"First squad on me! Second, push left! Third, push right! Search and destroy!"

"Fourth squad and headquarters on me! Second, push left! Third, push right! Search and destroy!"

First squad picked up and gathered around the lieutenant, the rest of the platoon following their own missions. SSG Bernard moved up to 2LT Joseph.

"I've lost Carlson and Matthews to that mortar fire. What's the plan, sir?"

"I want your squad up the road, sergeant. There must be spotters directing this mortar fire. Search and destroy. Move!"

First squad quickly moved up the road, line formation, weapons at the low ready, ready to engage the enemy at a moment's notice. They moved down the road like this for a few minutes, when the lieutenant's radio cut in.

"Alpha Tree – Six, this is Alpha Tree – Tree. We've made contact with the enemy spotters along the tree line. They have with them a squad sized element. They have at least one machine gun. Wiped out half my squad in a long burst. Over."

"Alpha Three – Three. First squad will flank the enemy from the rear. How-copy?"

There was no response.

"Alpha Three – Three. How-copy, Over."

"Alpha Three – Three. Answer me, damnit."

"Alpha Three – Three. Answer Me, DAMNIT!"

* * *

"Answer me, Damnit!" The lieutenant shouted out with an angry scowl on his face, surprising the current party. The discussion had been very tame, so the lieutenant losing his composure was unexpected to say the least. The one most surprised was Renamon, his partner, who had yet to see him break from his calm and collected demeaner before.

"Sorry, sir. Could you repeat the question?" CPL Ku asked. He was rather confused at the change in tone from the lieutenant and wondered how he had offended him in his previous actions.

"As you were, corporal." 2LT Joseph composed himself. "I didn't mean to shit on you, I was thinking about other things. I am sorry if I scared any of you." He looked to all of those present.

"I wasn't scared!" Veemon facetiously said.

"We can discuss my reservations in private, at a later time, Michael." Renamon stated.

"Can you repeat the question, sir?" The corporal asked once again.

"How did you get to be here, in this world, corporal." They had made it to CPL Ku and Veemon's small makeshift camp. It was composed of a wooden lean-to set up between two close trees. It could fit maybe three of them laying down very close together. There was a sleeping bag and a poncho inside as sleeping arrangements for two. Outside there was a small firepit that the group was sitting around.

"Well, sir, I was attached to Bravo Company, First Battalion, First Special Forces Group as an interpreter. We conducted a search and seizure on a secret electronic warfare research facility in Pyongyang."

 _Is that possibly the same facility my company was tasked with securing?_

"Things went really bad once we breached the facility. There were more enemy troops present than expected. We took heavy casualties. Once in the main room of the facility, they released monsters to attack us. Virus digimon. They were vicious."

 _Sounds like it is more than coincidence._

"A couple officers and technicians then used digivices to activate this big portal and escape into the digital world. A squad chased them but were cut down by a big black lizard type digimon on the staircase. Sergeant O'Neally and I found some digivices to open the portal ourselves, but he got hit. He told me to go follow before they got too far, so I ran to the portal and opened it and jumped in. I hope he and the rest of those men are okay."

"They aren't." The lieutenant replied.

"How do you know?" The corporal asked. "Sir?" He added.

"Because I was at that facility. My company was tasked with securing it. I found the remains of the platoon you were with. They are all dead."

"That can't be, sir. There were many left when I jumped through."

"I picked this digivice…" 2LT Joseph brandished his digivice. "…off of the dead body of Sergeant O'Neally. This rifle and P-C belong to Staff Sergeant Rickenbacker. They are dead, son. I'm sorry."

The fact seemed to sink in with the corporal, as he became visibly disheartened by the news. He got up and walked over into the lean-to, and sat down, hugging his legs and resting his head on his knees. Veemon went over and attempted to cheer him up. The lieutenant recollected his experience losing his platoon and empathized with him.

"Mike, now that we are alone, I'd like to talk to you about your loss of composure earlier." Renamon said.

"I'm sorry about that. I'll try to keep those to a minimum in the future."

"I am more concerned with what caused your outburst."

"I don't want to…" The lieutenant started to deflect, but the concerned look on Renamon's face made him reconsider. She was his partner, and he had to trust her. She told him about her traumatic experiences, it was time for him to talk about his.

"Actually, I'll tell you. You should know. I was thinking about my platoon, and how I lost them. I keep having recurring flashbacks of the whole battle. Some things just seem to trigger them. I'm worried I won't get much sleep for a while, as then I was sleeping in your bed, I had a nightmare about it. They were just such good men…" The lieutenant looked down, a few tears began to fall from his eyes. "They did everything I asked of them…" His voice shook.

"Michael, it's over now. You can't change what happened to them. You can only help determine what happens to us _now_." She put her arm around his shoulders. "You told me you were here for me, so I am here for you, too. You don't have to deal with this alone."

Her words did a good job of consoling him this time, and he sat up and smiled at her.

"Thanks." He said.

He looked over to the lean-to and saw Veemon was not doing a very good job of consoling his partner. He began to appreciate the maturity and thoughtfulness that Renamon had.


	12. A Shared Experience

**Message from the Author:** _Hello, I posted another chapter. This one I just wrote in the past three days, as I was feeling inspired. Sorry its not that long, nor does it cover much progression in the story. Just building up to something better. Also, I changed the rating of this story from M to T, as it didn't seem to be 'coarse' enough to warrant the M, and as a T rated story, will be able to reach a larger audience. Enjoy!_

* * *

A Shared Experience

"Left! Left! Left, right, your left!" The voice of a platoon sergeant bellowed out to a relatively neat formation of soldiers running along the road. 2LT Joseph was proudly leading the platoon on their run. "Left! Left! Keep it in step, now!"

"Up in the morning, outta the rack! (The platoon repeats)

Greeted at dawn with an early attack! (The platoon repeats)

First Sergeant rushes me off to chow! (The platoon repeats)

But I don't need it anyhow! (The platoon repeats)

Hail O' Hail O' Infantry! (The platoon repeats)

The Queen of Battle follow me! (The platoon repeats)

An Airborne Rangers life for me! (The platoon repeats)

'Cause nothing in this world is free! (The platoon repeats)

From a big bird in the sky! (The platoon repeats)

All will jump, and some will die! (The platoon repeats)

Off to battle we will go! (The platoon repeats)

To live or die, hell I don't know! (The platoon repeats)

Hail O' Hail O' Infantry! (The platoon repeats)

The Queen of Battle follow me! (The platoon repeats)

An Airborne Rangers life for me! (The platoon repeats)

'Cause nothing in this world is free! (The platoon repeats)

Early at night in the drizzilin' rain! (The platoon repeats)

I am hit but feel no pain! (The platoon repeats)

And in my heart, I have no fear! (The platoon repeats)

Because my Ranger God is here! (The platoon repeats)

Hail O' Hail O' Infantry! (The platoon repeats)

The Queen of Battle follow me! (The platoon repeats)

An Airborne Rangers life for me! (The platoon repeats)

'Cause nothing in this world is free! (The platoon repeats)"

"Quick-time, March!"

The platoon slowed to a rigid marching pace. The lieutenant was confused, as they weren't near their normal parade ground. In fact, he had no idea where they were. They were marching to a bridge, though.

"Your Left! … Your Left! … Your Left! … Right! Left! … One! … Two! … Three! … Foooooour!"

As the platoon turned the last bend before the bridge, the lieutenant caught a good glimpse of the bridge. It was a truss bridge in rather bad shape. Cracks along the road, and what large holes going all the way through. He also noticed a destroyed tank. Getting closer, he identified it as a T-54 or Type 59. The lieutenant shuddered, as he thought it seemed familiar, in a bad way. He started feeling déjà vu, although he couldn't pinpoint the memory that was causing it.

"Platoon, Halt!" The platoon halted in a neat fashion.

"Left Face!" Each platoon member turned to the left in a sharp, disciplined action at the same time.

"Post!" The lieutenant, who was now at the rear of the formation, ran around to the front, taking a position a step behind his platoon sergeant. His PSG turned around and saluted him. 2LT Joseph returned the salute. The PSG then took a step to the rear and jogged to the back of the formation, while 2LT Joseph stepped to the PSG's former position.

"At ease." the lieutenant said. The platoon assumed a more relaxed position. "3rd Platoon…" He started.

"Michael?" said voice from his right. He turned to see Renamon, his digimon partner.

"What the fuck?" His eyes widened. The events of the past few days surged into his head.

"What is going on?" Renamon asked.

He turned back to the formation, only to see his platoon as a pile of corpses, with _the_ North Korean engineer with a detonator on top. He muttered his last words and squeezed the detonator. The bridge started to shake apart. The lieutenant screamed and closed his eyes.

He opened his eyes moments later to find himself in Renamon's arms, several feet in the air. They landed on the edge of the road at the start of the bridge.

"Are you okay, Michael?" she asked. She was confused on that was going on, or where they were. She had never seen a paved road before and couldn't remember how she had got here.

"Yes, I…" The lieutenant hesitated. He tried to make sense of everything going on. "I think this is a dream, a nightmare."

"Oh?" Renamon was intrigued. "Are we sharing this dream together? Interesting. Maybe human and digimon partners have a connection between their minds that allows this to happen. Quite fascinating."

"Yeah, I…" The lieutenant noticed something in his peripherals. He looked up to see a bomb flying right towards them. "Look Out!" He tackled Renamon.

* * *

The lieutenant flew awake in a cold sweat and gasped for air. He was breathing heavily. He turned to his side to see Renamon awake as well.

"Are you okay, Michael?" she asked.

"Yes, I…" The lieutenant hesitated. "Were you just dreaming about me and the bridge?"

"Yes. I think we were sharing that dream together."

"That nightmare…" the lieutenant mumbled. He started to shiver. "A goddamned nightmare for sure." His teeth started to chatter. He was unsure if it was just the cold, or the frightening experience he just had. Probably both.

"Michael, you look like you are freezing." Renamon duly observed.

"I am." said the lieutenant, teeth still chattering. Renamon moved over to him and gave him in a warm hug, wrapping her arms and fluffy tail around him.

"Does this help?"

"Yeah… uh… I…" The lieutenant blushed but also was no longer shivering. He caught a good whiff of her scent and was surprised on how clean she smelled considering their living conditions. He imagined he smelled terrible.

"Good. I don't want to see you so cold." She pondered for a few moments. He enjoyed the warmth of the embrace and started to forget about the whole nightmare.

"Hopefully I won't be so cold when I go back to sleep."

"Well, maybe it's best if we go to sleep together. I'm sure we could keep each other warm." She smiled, but since they were in a hug, he couldn't see it. He blushed profusely, rather embarrassed by the proposition, although he could not deny the logic in it. He had the slightest premonition that there might have been a little more to it than just warmth, though.

"You just want to sleep in the sleeping bag and not the poncho, I see though you." He jested, using humor to deflect from the strange feeling he had. She pushed away to be face to face.

"No, I just want to keep you warm." She said, the joke flying right over her head.

"It was a joke…" He gave a small chuckle. "Okay?" She pondered the joke and got a slight idea of the humor behind it.

"Oh, I understand now." She forced out a small, unnatural chuckle to satisfy his sense of humor.

"Alright, if we're going to do this, you are going to have to get in here." She released him, and he unzipped the sleeping bag and the bivy cover. She awkwardly shuffled her way into the sleeping bag, but there was very little room. He could not close the sleeping bag, but he did manage to zip shut the bivy cover.

"Are we all good now?" he asked.

"Yes, I think this is quite swell."

"Alright. Well, then, good night, Renamon."

"Good night, Michael."


	13. Class I

_**A Message from the Author:** Another new chapter I just finished. For anyone who is reading, I know the terminology used throughout may include words and acronyms unfamiliar to most civilians, an example being the title of this chapter. Class I is a supply designation for rations and other issued food items. I use this terminology because it adds immersion to the story, being based around the adventure of a soldier. If you don't understand a word, acronym, or phrase, I encourage you to look it up if you are curious. Anyways, thanks for reading my story, I hope you are enjoying it._

* * *

Class I

"Damn." 2LT Joseph said, poking the contents of his canteen with the sawblade on his Gerber multi-tool. "It's frozen solid."

"Yeah, things tend to do that in weather like this." CPL Ku commented, with a hint of sarcasm. The lieutenant gave him an annoyed look, but the corporal's face already showed displeasure with the current situation. The lieutenant recalled the events of the morning.

* * *

"We are going to get to the enemy base. From there, we might just be able to get back to the real world."

"Sir, you realize the enemy outnumbers us, and has the advantage of understanding the area they're operating in better than us."

"Yes, I do."

"Then trying to get to their base is suicide, we'll probably be killed before we get near it."

"I am fully aware of the risk and our chances."

"So then why are you rearing to go? Do you want to die?"

"Corporal, we're not getting anywhere by freezing our asses off while we jerk off around a damn campfire. If you haven't noticed, we're cut off. Cut off and with no chance of outside rescue. The outside world thinks we're _dead_ and doesn't even know this place exists. We have to rescue ourselves. We can't stay here forever, enemy patrols will eventually find this place, and food is not easy to come by here. I'd rather die making progress than die here, cold and hungry."

"Sir…"

"Damnit, we're going! That's an order! Pack your things, we move out within the hour."

* * *

The corporal's displeasure was understandable. The lieutenant didn't like the situation much, either, but 'you have to make do' as the old phrase goes. They had been handrailing the gravel road for a few hours now. The lieutenant decided a break would be a good way to boost morale.

"Alright, let's take a break and grab some chow."

"Does that mean we get to eat?" Veemon asked.

"Yeah, little guy, it does." The lieutenant smiled as he replied.

"YEAH! I'm super hungry." Veemon seemed very excited to eat, they had not eaten much before they left the camp. The two soldiers dropped their respective packs.

"This gives me a chance to heat this damn thing up." The lieutenant said to nobody in particular, speaking about his frozen canteen. He unzipped the main pouch of his assault pack and pulled a large piece of meat out and handed it to his partner.

"Is this all you eat?" He asked, concerned about such a narrow diet.

"Often times in the winter, this is all that is available." Renamon stated.

"Well then, I've got a treat for you." He pulled a thick brown plastic bag from the pack.

"What is that?"

"It's an M-R-E. A meal ready-to-eat. It has a variety food inside, and most importantly, a heater. Mexican Style Chicken Stew." The lieutenant read off the package. He then ripped the bag open and pulled the MRE heater our first. He took a handful of snow and stuffed it in the bag. Rubbing the bag between his hands, he got the snow to melt, and the heater started to work. He placed his canteen next to it. Renamon observed this with great curiosity, not understanding but hoping to learn.

"Hopefully…" 2LT Joseph whispered to himself as he dug around in the bag a little, "Ja-la-pano cheese!" He excitedly pulled the item from the bag, placing it in one of his pockets. "That's for later." He pulled another item from the bag. "Toffee Rolls." He handed the bag to Renamon.

"What is this?" She asked, curiously inspecting the package.

"It's a Tootsie Roll. Have you ever had chocolate before?"

"No, I don't believe so."

"Well, go ahead and try it. I'm sure you'll like it." He said with a smile. "What do you got over there, Corporal?"

"Asian Style Beef Strips."

"Right down your alley, then." The lieutenant chuckled.

"Fuck you, sir." The corporal said, chuckling in response.

"Could you help me open this?" Renamon asked. She had gotten the MRE packaging off, but the Tootsie Roll wrapper was giving her a hard time.

"Your fingers are a little bit too big, huh?" The lieutenant observed. Renamon's hands were larger than his own, even though she was smaller than him overall. And her fingers were also much larger than his own, her only having three to his five. She noticed this and played with her hands nervously. He took the candy and tore at the wrapper end, ripping the plastic sheeting off, exposing the Tootsie Roll inside a small piece of cardboard. Discarding that, he handed the unpackaged candy back to Renamon. She eyed it curiously and sniffed it. Satisfied that it wasn't bad, she took a bite.

"MMMmmmmmhhh." Her eyes widened at the taste of the Tootsie Roll. Her first taste of candy. "It's absolutely delicious." She said, smiling. The lieutenant smiled back, pleased that he could bring a smile to her face. She finished the rest of the roll, savoring every sweet bite of the candy.

The lieutenant checked his canteen, finding it sufficiently warm. He took the heater and placed it into the entree sleeve to warm it. He then took the canteen and poured some water into another item from the MRE.

"Chocolate Beverage Powder." The lieutenant stated to Renamon as he shook the pouch. "It would be decent hot chocolate if the water was hot, but I guess we'll settle for lukewarm chocolate." He jested. Renamon gave him a confused look. "I guess you wouldn't know anything about that, so let me explain. A very common beverage back home for cold weather like this is hot chocolate. It helps warm you up in the cold and tastes great." He smiled, thinking about the warmth of such a beverage. "Unfortunately, the water from the canteen isn't hot enough, so it won't be as good."

"That's okay, you don't have to share your food with me. I am quite content with eating what I have." She looked down at the chunk of meat she was holding. Remembering that she hadn't thanked him yet, she looked back up quickly. "Of course, I do appreciate the Tootsie Roll you gave me. I found it to be quite delicious."

"Well, I'm not content with having you constantly eat the same thing, it's not healthy."

"Well," she looked down again nervously, "If you insist."

"I insist."

The pair shared the MRE together. Renamon tasted flavors she never had before, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

 _If she finds this stuff so amazing, she'll love real food back home._ He thought. He began to ponder more. _I wonder if I'll ever get back home. What happens then? Will she come to the real world with me, or stay here? She seemed very adamant about going with me wherever I went, and not going back to her 'normal' life. If she came to the real world with me, what would happen? How could I explain her to anyone? How would she be treated?_

The lieutenant observed Renamon, still deep in thought. She was trying to suck the last juices out of the now depleted beverage pouch. He smiled, finding it both silly and cute.

 _I have to do my best to protect her._ He concluded.


	14. No Support

No Support

 _"The tracks end here."_ A North Korean soldier said.

 _"This is useless, these beasts can bound great distances before touching the ground again. Tracks can be several meters apart. Farther if they use the trees."_ Another stated.

 _"Well, it seems like this one did."_ The leader of the group stated, pointing up at a treehouse.

The men gasped with shock, then scrambled to scale the tree and search the building, while the leader radioed higher.

 _"Commander, we found a treehouse that a digimon probably lives in. Will send up a full report when the investigation is complete."_

 _"These beasts,"_ whispered the commander to himself, _"must accept the new rule by True Korea. With the power they hold, our position in the real world would be elevated to great levels."_

The soldiers searched the house.

 _"Look, an enemy radio system."_ The soldier held up the previously discarded PRC-148. It was a much smaller device than the radio they were using. Another soldier inspected it.

 _"It looks to be damaged beyond repair, but we can take it back as evidence."_

Another soldier found some crude drawings of a fox and a man in a cabinet. The group found nothing else relevant and exited the building.

 _"Burn it down,"_ the leader said, _"beasts who aid the enemy deserve no quarter."_

* * *

"All receiving, this is Alpha Three – Six Actual. I've got a Nine-Line MEDEVAC request. Over."

"Alpha Three – Six, this is Overlord. All available sorites are already deployed. No support is available at this time. Advise you to collect casualties at your company's C-P and wait for CASEVAC. Out."

"Damnit." 2LT Joseph cursed the situation as he held his 3rd Squad Leader in his arms, critically wounded. The medic had looked him over and did the best he could but recommended a 9-Line for him and a couple others. 3rd Squad had taken grazing fire from a couple of RPD light machine guns. 2LT Joseph took 1st Squad, flanked, and destroyed the enemy teams operating them.

"I'm not getting out of here anytime soon, am I, sir?" SSG Orlando asked the lieutenant.

"I'm sorry, sergeant, I've just been told we have no support."

"It's okay, sir. I've got confidence we can complete the mission, even without support."

"Hooah…"

* * *

 _No support._ The lieutenant thought, keeping the reservations he had about their mission to himself. _We're going in with no support. How could we even pull this off? Am I in over my head?_ Deciding to inspect the present party, he looked to his left.

Ten yards away in the wedge was CPL Ku. He had the typical facial expression of a dogface, tired and emotionless. 2LT Joseph knew he had a heavy reluctance to proceed with the plan, but figured the corporal to be disciplined enough to see it through.

Farther down was the corporal's partner, Veemon, seemed rather childish. He was trudging along with his head down, indicating his boredom with the current situation. The lieutenant didn't know if he understood what the mission was, but he seemed energetic enough to be useful when the time comes. His reliability was questionable, though. He hoped CPL Ku would be able to keep his partner in line.

The lieutenant looked to his right to see his partner, Renamon, about five yards away, trying to stay in the "wedge formation" the he had briefly taught her. Her head was up, ears raised, eyes alert. She seemed reliable, and through her previous actions and pledge of loyalty, seemed to be the most trustworthy person accompanying the lieutenant. She was keen on staying by the lieutenant after the few engagements they became entangled in. He had briefed her on the mission and she seemed to have a grasp for it, understanding the gravity of the situation and keeping alert to maximize response time.

He appreciated her maturity and loyalty immensely, especially considering she was a digimon. She cared about him. He recalled how she had wrapped him up when he was shaking from the cold. _I've never felt as warm and safe as I did then. It's good to have someone like her around._ The lieutenant smiled. _I've never met anyone like her, before. She…_

"Michael!" Renamon whispered loudly, "I hear a machine!"

"What?" the lieutenant whispered back. He raised his left hand to signal halt, and listened. "I hear it, too, now. It's a truck. Quickly, get to the side of the road, there!" He pointed to a bush near the road. "Behind that bush! We can set up an ambush."

The party quickly moved to the bush, which was large enough to conceal the group from the road. Down the road, a single truck came into view. It was a 5-ton 6x6 off-road vehicle with a fully enclosed bed.

"I'll hit the driver, you take the other one." The lieutenant said. "Multiple rounds, the windshield may deflect the first couple."

"Yes, sir."

"On three." They both took aim at their targets. "One… Two… THREE!"

The pair opened up on the truck with a quick burst of fire, killing the driver and passenger. The truck continued down the road for a short amount of time, slowing down to idling speed not too far past their bush. The two soldiers ran to the truck, while their respective partners followed slowly, unsure of what to do. The lieutenant ran to the driver's side door and tried it. Finding it locked, he shot the window and punched it in. Reaching over the side, he opened the door from the inside. He pulled the driver's body out and got in. He then placed the vehicle into neutral, engaged the parking brake, and turned the engine off. CPL Ku came up to his door.

"What now, sir?" the corporal asked.

"Go open up the bed and see what's inside. I'll check the bodies."

The corporal went to open the bed doors while the lieutenant checked the passenger's body, expecting him to be a more important person than the driver. He inspected the uniform and identified him as an enemy lieutenant. He looked out to the driver and identified him as a private. Renamon came up to the driver's door.

"Michael, what's wrong with him?" She pointed at the dead driver.

"He's dead, Renamon. I'm sorry if it's a bit gory, but it's part of the job."

"Why hasn't he dissolved?"

"What?"

"If he died, then his data would dissolve, but he's still here." The lieutenant recalled their engagement with the large bug digimon and remembered how he dissolved when he died.

"Renamon, humans don't dissolve when they die. We are not made of data. When we die, our bodies stay here."

"So how do you get stronger when you kill your opponent?"

"We don't. That's not how we get stronger."

"Sir, there's a padlock. I need the key." The corporal said, interrupting the pair's conversation.

"Okay." He looked at the belt of the enemy officer, and found a carabiner with a set of keys. He pulled it off. "Here. Try these." He tossed the keys to the corporal, who caught them and proceeded to the rear of the vehicle.

"If you don't get stronger, why did you kill them?" Renamon asked.

"Because they are the enemy. Our countries are at war."

"I don't understand." Renamon showed frustration in her lack of understanding.

"We don't have time to discuss philosophical questions like the morality of war; we can discuss this another time. I have to get back to work." The lieutenant said, fully aware that the question would be eating at her for the time being. He felt bad, but he understood the priorities. He looked back to the other side of the cab and spotted a clipboard on the passenger's dashboard. He grabbed it and looked for information.

"Corporal, this manifest is in Korean. Can you look for important information, and tell me the gist of it?" He walked to the back of the truck and handed the clipboard to the corporal, who was still fumbling to find the correct key for the padlock.

"Yes, sir." The lieutenant took the keys and found a promising looking one. He tried it and it worked. Taking the padlock off, he grabbed the handle to the locking bar and began to open it.

"Sir. It says here that the truck contains a wild digimon that was too stubborn to be trained. It says that it's dangerous." The lieutenant had already unlatched the door.

"Oh, better lock this back up then." He started to relatch the door when it swung open with a bang, striking the lieutenant and sending him flying. He landed several yards away and blacked out.


	15. Loyalty

**_Message from the Author:_** _Sorry for another long wait, but here is the next chapter in the story. Thank you all for continuing to read my story, enjoy._

* * *

Loyalty

"Mike, are you alright?" a familiar voice asked. Michael sat up.

"I dunno, my head is throbbing." he responded. He took his helmet off and rubbed his head.

"What's wrong?" a youthful female asked as she rushed to help him up.

"Mike got hit pretty hard. That running back is D-1 bound, he's getting looks from Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson… Don't feel to bad about getting trucked by him, Mike. You slowed him down enough for Jarod to tackle him." The familiar voice was from his friend Tim, an outside linebacker on Michael's high school football team. The athletic training staff was surrounding him now, the game put on hold for an injury timeout.

"How are you feeling, Michael? You seemed to take a pretty hard hit from that boy." the athletic trainer asked.

"My head hurts pretty bad, Doc. I got hit in the head pretty hard."

"Alright, we're gonna need to get you to the sideline and start the concussion protocol. Do you think you can walk?"

"Yeah, Doc. I think I can manage." Michael got up, with the training staff helping him up. He walked slowly to the sideline, the fans from both sides clapping for him. He got into the bed of a small vehicle while the athletic trainer got into the driver's seat. They drove off.

 _My head is throbbing. Good Lord._

Michael passed out due to his head injury.

* * *

"Michael! Please get up!" Renamon pleaded to her unconscious partner. She was kneeling beside him, squeezing one of his hands with her right and shaking his shoulder with her left. "I can't lose you like this."

*BANG BANG BANG*

CPL Ku was engaging the digimon the lieutenant accidentally released from the truck. It resembled a Tyrannosaurus Rex with longer arms and seemed just as vicious. The bullets caused little reaction and no apparent physical damage.

"Vee Headbutt!" Veemon was doing his best as well. The little blue digimon collided with the larger's head, causing it to stagger a little. The effect was only momentary.

"Renamon! You have fight that thing." CPL Ku said, "I can't do anything myself. Veemon needs your help. I will see what I can do for the lieutenant, here." Renamon turned to the corporal with an anxious look. She hesitated for a few moments, not wanting to leave her partner in the state he was in.

"Okay." She replied. She took the lieutenant's hand with both of hers and gave it one more squeeze, then got up and jumped off into the fight. The corporal took her place next to the unconscious lieutenant.

"What the hell have you gotten us into, sir?" the corporal asked, fully aware 2LT Joseph wouldn't reply. He shook the lieutenant a couple of times to see if he'd wake, with no effect.

"Diamond Storm!" CPL Ku looked back and saw Renamon at the apex of a leap, sending a volley of crystals down towards the creature.

"Fire Breath!" The creature responded with a stream of flame shooting out of his mouth, absorbing the crystal volley and pushing on to Renamon. Veemon and Renamon became engulfed in flames. When the flames resided, the corporal could see Veemon and Renamon with visible char marks all over the fronts of their bodies. The corporal was shocked they stood firm and continued fighting. He looked back to the unconscious lieutenant.

"We're gonna need to get you out of here, sir." The corporal grabbed the lieutenant by the back of his plate carrier and dragged him to the nearest tree, sitting him up on the tree. He shook him again, to no avail. "Damnit, lieutenant!"

"Slash Claw!" The dinosaur connected with Veemon, giving him a large cut and sending him flying. He screeched out in pain, landing off to the side of the road.

"Goddamn." the corporal muttered in awe, staring for a few moments. He came to his senses. "I am coming, buddy!" CPL Ku left 2LT Joseph and rushed to Veemon and tried to administer some first aid.

"Why are you doing this?" A struggling Renamon screamed at the dinosaur.

"Humans and those who help them must be destroyed." A deep, menacing voice responded.

"You will not destroy my partner!" Renamon shouted, leaping into the air towards the hostile digimon. "Power Paw!" She balled her right hand into a fist and wound it back, her fist beginning to glow with a blue aura. She brought her fist forward as she reached the head of the dinosaur, connecting her punch with his jaw. The creature staggered backwards and covered his jaw with one of his clawed hands. Renamon landed, looking exhausted but pleased to see her attack having a strong effect on the enemy. The dinosaur began to laugh.

"You think you have the power to defeat me? 'Tis but a scratch. You are weak, just like the humans you sympathize with." He cracked his knuckles and stepped forward. Renamon, intimidated, slowly backed away. Unfortunately, the creature moved faster and caught her, grabbing her body firmy in one of his clawed hands. She couldn't move. He brought her up to eye level.

"You lack the power needed to truly be able to contend with a superior being like myself. Why do you associate yourself with such pitiful creatures?" He turned her to face the others. "Look at them, weak and ineffective. Did you really believe they could give you power?" She looked helplessly at her friends. Veemon, heavily injured from the fight. CPL Ku, frantically trying to help his partner, but having little success. And 2LT Joseph, her partner, unconscious and laid up against a tree. Renamon felt shame in the fact she could not help them. "Humans are a blight and must be eliminated from the digital world. They do not belong here; they are invaders who want to enslave us. They managed to trick you into believing that they are your friends, you fool."

"They are my frien-" He squeezed her, crushing her in his fist as she cried out.

2LT Joseph awoke to his partner crying out. "Renamon." he barely managed a loud whisper. The dinosaur tossed Renamon towards her friends, and slowly moved forward to finish them off. Renamon landed next to 2LT Joseph, crippled and broken.

"Michael," she barely managed to whisper, "I am sorry I have failed you." Her eyes watered, tears flowing from her eyes, closed in shame. 2LT Joseph rolled off the tree and kneeled next to her, taking her hand in one of his, and wiping the tears from her face with the other.

"Renamon, you have nothing to be sorry for. I am responsible for what happened here, I am the one who failed you." Tears fell from his face onto hers. "You don't deserve this."

"She does," said the dinosaur, "for helping you heathens. Now she will die."

"You will have to go through me, first!" The lieutenant stood up and aimed his rifle at the head of the massive creature.

"Very well, you will die with her."

"No, Michael." Renamon whispered to him, unable to speak any louder. "You are my tamer; it is my duty to protect you. Get away while you can"

"I will never leave a fallen comrade." The dinosaur opened his large maw, preparing to spew out his flames. The lieutenant saw his chance and took it.

*Whoomp* He fired his grenade launcher right into the mouth of the creature. The grenade exploded inside its throat, causing the creature to stagger backwards and cough out black smoke. The dinosaur fell to its knees and continued to cough.

"You *cough* will pay *cough* for this. *cough cough*" 2LT Joseph turned back to his partner.

"I would never leave you, Renamon." He knelt beside her and lifted her head in his hand. "You are my partner; it is _my_ duty to protect _you_."

"Thank you, Michael. I owe you my life."

"You don't owe me anything." The lieutenant's digivice began to glow brightly, like before. He pulled it out of the pouch.


	16. Duty

Duty

2LT Joseph sat there on his knees with a crippled, broken, dying body in his arms. He had hoped he'd never see this day come but understood when he arrived in this foreign place that this was a real possibility.

"I'm sorry, lieutenant." said the dying man before he closed his eyes and entered his final sleep. The lieutenant closed his eyes and brought his hand to his face, slowly raking his face in order to keep his composure. He laid the dead soldier down and stood up.

"Doc!" The platoon medic rushed over to the lieutenant. "I want you to collect the casualties and take them back to the company C-P. Collect the dead and place them together. Give a report to Sergeant Harrison before you leave." The medic nodded and set about on those tasks. "Sergeant Harrison!" The lieutenant moved to the PSG, who was speaking to the other SLs. He turned to the lieutenant.

"What is it, sir?"

"We need to keep moving. As soon as Doc gives you the casualty report, we move."

"Sir, we should hold here until we get reinforced."

"Sergeant, we don't have time. We are the tip of the spear; the advance can't stop here. Our duty is to take that bridge, we'll have to make do with the men we have."

"Sir, our duty is to keep our men alive."

"Sergeant! This isn't Afghanistan, we have to keep moving, keep pushing the front forward. We cannot stall out here; we are the ones who will dictate the tempo of this operation, not the enemy. Do I make myself clear, sergeant?"

"Yes, sir."

* * *

"I place my life into your hands, Michael." Renamon said, slowly fading out of consciousness.

"Renamon, please stay awake! I'm not gonna lose you like this." She became unresponsive. He frantically searched for options. He looked at his digivice, the screen now growing too bright to safely look at. He decided to try the buttons and pressed the left one. The screen's light faded, and Renamon started to glow instead. She began to float into the air, coming upright with a swarm of light and data beginning to surround her, cocooning her into an egg-shaped orb.

"Renamon digivolve to…!" Her voice rang out from the orb, reverberating throughout the air as if it were a herald from the Almighty. A few seconds later the orb burst, revealing the transformed being inside.

"Kyubimon!" She said. The being Renamon transformed into was larger, standing a bit shorter in height, but as a quadruped resembling a fox more feral than Renamon was. Her fur was the same golden yellow with white accents. Her head was longer and more foxlike than before, with multiple purple marks under the eyes and a yin yang symbol on the forehead, but the eyes were the same black scaleras with glowing cyan irises. Around her neck was a large rope with barber pole styling in a bow pattern with the ends capped with golden balls. Small strings of diamonds hung from the rope under the neck. Yin yang symbols were present at each upper leg joint. She had nine tails, with the tips flaming with white flame. The white fur on the legs were flaming in a similar manner.

"Rena… mon?" 2LT Joseph asked, in awe of the transformation.

"I am Kyubimon now, Michael. I have digivolved thanks to your loyalty and bond with me. I now have the strength to perform my duty, my duty to protect you."

"Impossible!" The now recovered dinosaur digimon said, just as shocked as the lieutenant at the digivolution of the nearly destroyed Renamon. "These humans can't give you the power to digivolve."

"That is where you are wrong, Tyrannomon. My tamer is my strength, not my weakness. I will always be able to defeat spiteful beings such as yourself as long as he stands with me."

"Even with this new power, you will not be able to defeat me. Fire Breath!" Tyrannomon started to spew flames from his mouth at Kyubimon. 2LT Joseph watched the flames make their way towards them, but did not move, ready to be consumed by the flames with his partner by his side.

"Fox Tail Inferno!" Kyubimon spread her tails radially and launched white fox shaped flames from the tips of her tails. The flames consumed the fire beam coming from Tyrannomon and continued on to him. They struck him, sending him flying back, scorched.

"This can't be!" He cried.

"But it is, your hate for humans will be your demise." Kyubimon leapt into the air. "Dragon Wheel!" She began to spin into a flaming white spiral and launched herself at Tyrannomon. The flames formed into a dragon head shape at the leading edge and engulfed the dinosaur. He screamed one last time as he dissolved into data. Kyubimon landed gracefully on the ground where Tyrannomon once stood.

"Veemon," Kyubimon called out, "absorb his data before it disperses." The small blue digimon closed his eyes and concentrated, the data slowly moving towards him and eventually being assimilated into his body. His wounds all healed up, and he was back on his feet, ready to go.

"Thank you, Kyubimon." Veemon said. CPL Ku, on the verge of tears, hugged his recovered partner.

"Kyubimon, you did it," the lieutenant said to her, "you defeated him. You saved us all." 2LT Joseph walked up the her and hugged her, a hug she could not return in her new form. "You were amazing." He released her and stepped back to be face to face. "You _are_ amazing." He brought his hand gingerly to the side of her face, moving slowly to her ear, and began to scratch the back of it. Kyubimon closed her eyes and released her stress as he scratched. When she opened her eyes half a minute later, she found his staring right back at hers, his face expressionless.

"Kyubimon, I…" 2LT Joseph paused because Kyubimon began to glow again but did not begin to form an orb. She transformed back into Renamon, his hand still behind her ear, eyes still locked onto hers. "Renamon, I…"

"I know." She cut him off. She gave him a warm hug, holding him tight in her arms. "I know."

He closed his eyes and thanked God for delivering his guardian angel to him.


	17. Respect

Respect

Having recovered from the abrupt attack and the events following, the group was out driving the captured vehicle in the direction it came from. They put their packs in the truck bed and all piled into the cabin. 2LT Joseph sat in the drivers position on the bench, with Renamon directly next to him in the center. On the right was CPL Ku with Veemon siting on his lap. They were packed in pretty tight, especially considering the humans were also still wearing most of their gear.

"I don't like sitting on your lap, Ji-Woo. Why can't I sit in the middle and Renamon sit on Michael's lap?" Veemon asked. Renamon and 2LT Joseph both looked at each other for a moment with wide eyes. The lieutenant smirked, and a fiery-red blush overcame Renamon's face. The lieutenant blushed in response, and they both looked back to the road.

"The lieutenant is driving, and Renamon is bigger than you. Maybe you should have listened to me when I said it would be better if you rode in the back." the corporal replied.

"I don't want to ride in the back where that smelly Tyrannomon was. Besides, a good digimon always stays with their partner, just like Renamon stays with Michael." The aforementioned glanced at each other again, blushes returning onto both of their faces.

"Yeah, well next to doesn't mean on top of." The corporal seemed to be quite displeased with the childish creature sitting on his lap.

"Renamon?" the lieutenant asked quietly while the others continued to bicker.

"Yes, my tamer?" Renamon responded quietly but dutifully, with a hint of something more in her voice. She looked on to her tamer's face, although his eyes were focused on the road.

"The way you stood by me back there, especially when I was unconscious… well, you put your life on the line for me, and I appreciate that. It's so strange, I've been trained to put myself out there on the line for my men…" He paused for a few long moments, "I just never expected someone who is not a soldier to do something like that for me."

"I will always stand by you, Michael, from this day to my last day." The lieutenant blushed. "You are my tamer, and I will always be by your side, ready for whatever comes our way."

"Thank you, Renamon. You have my utmost respect. I never expected someone like you to come into my life and stand by me loyaly and freely." He looked her in the eyes and began to blush even harder. "Back there, when you dedigivolved, I wanted to say…" He paused, biting his lip. Renamon sat there, eyes locked onto his, ready for what he was about to say. "I was going to say…"

The radio in the truck cut in, and cut the lieutenant off. The group all listened.

"Corporal, what is it saying?" 2LT Joseph asked, knowing that it was speaking in Korean.

 _"Unit 5, respond."_

"I think it want's those guys we killed to check in."

"Well, corporal, are you familiar with North Korean radio communication procedures?"

"Somewhat, sir."

"Then respond. The rest of you be quiet, especially you, Veemon." The lieutenant gave Veemon a stern look, hoping to instill the gravity of the situation into him. The corporal grabbed the radio's mouthpiece, and the lieutenant stopped the truck.

 _"This is Unit 5. Ready for transmission."_ The rest of the group looked on warily, unsure of the nature of the conversation unfolding.

 _"Unit 5, have you completed your delivery to the satellite facility yet?"_

 _"No, the truck blew a tire and we had to replace it with the spare."_

 _"Understood, the satellite facility radioed in asking about the delivery. Can you give an estimated time of arrival?"_

 _"We should arrive within another hour."_

 _"Good, we sent you out late as is. Let Captain Jeong know that you were sent out on time and the tire change took longer than it did. I'll give you and your man extra rations this week for doing so."_

 _"Understood."_

 _"Did the monster give you any trouble while you were stopped. I don't think we gave it enough sedatives for such a delay."_

 _"A minor amount. It banged on the inside of the bed for a while but quieted down soon after. I think it understands there is no escape."_

 _"Good, I look forward to seeing you return, lieutenant."_

 _"Understood."_ The corporal returned the mouthpiece.

"What happened?" the lieutenant inquired.

"He asked about why the delivery of the digimon was delayed. I told him we blew a tire and had to swap out a spare. I told him we'd be arriving at the other facility in an hour."

"Okay. If this map is correct and to scale, we should arrive at the main facility in about 45 minutes."

"What should we do if we come across another truck on the road or a patrol."

"Generally, we will have to engage if we are identified. Otherwise, we'll have to play it by ear. If we have to bug out, Renamon," he looked her in the eyes, "you're with me. Veemon, you are with the corporal. Move 50 meters away from the road on your side, then 100 meters back successively with covering fire. I'll evaluate the situation from there."

"Roger Wilco." CPL Ku replied.

"Understood, Michael." Renamon replied.

"Okay." Veemon replied.

2LT Joseph shifted the truck into gear and started driving to their destination. He hoped for the best, but expected the worst.

* * *

"Alpha Three – Six. How copy? Over."

There was no response.

"Alpha Three – Six, this is Alpha Four – Six. How copy? Over."

Still no response.

"Lieutenant Joseph is down. He probably got hit in that airstrike." 1LT O'Connor, 4th Platoon's PL and now acting CO for Alpha Company, said. "3rd Platoon is gone, I'm sorry son." He patted the shoulder of PFC Leonardo. "The lieutenant was on the objective, so it is probably clear now. I want 2nd Squad to go on a patrol to that location and see what you can find. Leonardo, you go with them."

"Yes, sir."


	18. Selfless Service

Selfless Service

After another half an hour on the road, they finally caught sight of their objective. They stopped, and the lieutenant observed through his binoculars and contemplated.

"Your orders, sir?" the lieutenant's NCO counterpart asked.

"The enemy is dug in well, and there doesn't seem to be any good flanking routes."

"Then our only option is a frontal assault."

"We can't do that, out of the question."

"Sir, if I may." SFC Harrison took the binoculars from the lieutenant and looked for himself. "The enemy is dug in, but they don't seem to have much in way of support. One of their tanks is destroyed on the bridge, and they don't seem to have any others. A well-coordinated frontal assault will surprise them, and we might be able to establish a foothold at the bridgehead if we move fast enough."

"I will lose my platoon like that."

"Not if it is executed properly. You said it yourself, this isn't Afghanistan. The longer we wait, the longer the enemy has to prepare and reinforce. Now is our chance."

"I don't know if we can pull it off."

"Sir, with all due respect, you can't hesitate like this. The men need a strong leader, a confident leader. They can't see you falter. Not now, not with the reputation you have been building. I've been in a few frontal assaults on an entrenched enemy, and only with high tempo and high morale were we able to succeed."

"I-"

"Be the leader that the Army trained you to be. This is where you earn your pay." The lieutenant looked down, then back to his men. They were laying prone along the drainage ditch, many looking at the lieutenant, waiting for his orders. He understood he was the one who had to make the tough decisions, he had to act.

"Fuck it, send it." The PSG nodded and followed the PL as he made his rounds.

"First Squad, Second Squad! Prepare to assault. Fourth Squad! Set up your guns here and prepare to suppress the enemies on the bridge. Let's move!" 4th Squad began to set up their M240's while 1st and 2nd prepared for the attack.

"Where do you want me, sir?" SFC Harrison asked.

"Go with 2nd Squad, I will be with 1st." 2LT Joseph raised his voice. "I will be with First Squad! Sergeant Harrison will be with 2nd Squad! Drop your rucks here, Fourth Squad will take care of them!" He looked to his WSL. "You got that, Sergeant?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Damnit." The lieutenant, lying in the prone, fired a couple rounds off. A few bullets whizzed by in reply. Minutes ago, an enemy truck happened to be moving towards them, so the lieutenant had made the decision to engage. The group had to bug out of the vehicle not too far from the enemy outpost, as enemy solders started to hop out their truck. They had moved to their preplanned positions.

"What are we going to do, Michael?" Renamon asked, lying next to him.

"I'm not sure, let me think." CPL Ku and Veemon were to the right of them about 100 yards away. "We need to get close enough to the corporal to communicate. I don't know if we can get there in time."

"I will get you there, tamer." Renamon said dutifully. The lieutenant looked at her curiously and was surprised when she picked him up quickly and leapt off towards the corporal's position.

"Renamon, what are you doing?!"

"Getting you there in time." The enemy was shooting at them, but they were moving extremely fast. In only a few moments, they reached the corporal and Renamon set the lieutenant down. They both hit the dirt as soon as possible.

"Lieutenant!" CPL Ku was surprised at the quick appearance of 2LT Joseph and his partner. "What's the plan, sir?"

"We only seemed to have come up on a squad sized element. We need to destroy them now, secure our packs, and move off. Renamon!"

"Yes, Michael?"

"I need you to take Veemon and attack that squad. The corporal and I will remain here and give you support fire. Do you think you can handle it?"

"Yes."

"It will be dangerous. Be careful when you are out there; I don't want you to get hurt. Come back to me, okay."

"Always."

"Alright, then go!" The lieutenant and corporal started firing rapidly at the enemy forces. Renamon picked Veemon up and leapt off towards the enemy. Dropping Veemon off near the truck, Renamon leapt into the air once more.

"Diamond Storm!" A volley of crystals materialized and launched towards the enemy. Many were hit, some wounded, some killed.

 _"Now!"_ One of the unharmed enemies yelled. The enemy truck's canvas bed cover fell off and a large net shot out of a launcher, ensnaring Renamon as she was making her descent. She cried out in pain, the net shocked her, evidently electrified.

"RENAMON!" The lieutenant yelled out and attempted to get up. He was greeted by a few rounds, causing him to hit the dirt. Another net launched and ensnared Veemon; he cried out in a similar way to Renamon.

"VEEMON! We're gonna get you guys out of there!" The corporal yelled out.

The digimon, weakened to the point of incapacitation, were then dragged into the bed of the truck by a couple on enemy soldiers. These soldiers looked different, wearing MOPP equivalent protective gear. The lieutenant tried to shoot them but couldn't get a good line of sight without risking the enemy ventilating his brain cavity. The special soldiers got onto the truck and drove away.

"Michael! Help us!" Renamon cried out weakly.

"Damnit! We have to go after them!" The corporal stood up and began to run, but he caught a round to the chest, knocking him onto his back.

"Fuck!" The lieutenant fired a grenade from his launcher at the remaining enemies, blowing a few up. He got up and ran to the corporal. A lone enemy fired at him. He hit the dirt, rolled, and fired a couple rounds at the enemy. One struck home, silencing the enemy permanently. The lieutenant got up and rushed to the corporal.

"Ku! Are you okay?"

"That round hit me pretty hard. Hit my plate, knocked the wind out of me." The lieutenant sighed, finding a small amount of relief in the shitstorm that had befallen him.

"Well then get up. We have to find a way to get our partners back." He turned towards the road. "I can't lose her." The lieutenant said quietly to himself.


	19. Honor

Honor

"Who is he?" the soldier asked.

"Private Dunn, Sergeant." PFC Leonardo was kneeling over the body of his squad mate. "A few weeks ago, we were doing keg-stands at Sergeant Wilson's house. Now he's gone."

"I'm sorry, son. But we're gonna have to keep moving. The lieutenant wants us on that objective. We'll come back for him." 2nd Squad, 4th Platoon, A Company was on the other side of the Taedong River. They managed to secure a raft and rowed across, using the now wrecked bridge to stay on course.

 _I hope the lieutenant is alive. I need answers._

* * *

"What are we going to do, sir?"

"I'm thinking."

"We have to act soon. We need to get our partners back!"

"I know." 2LT Joseph and CPL Ku made it back to the truck they captured to get their packs and recover from the engagement they had with the enemy. The lieutenant was sitting with his legs hanging off the back of the bed, head resting on his hand by his forehead. CPL Ku was pacing quickly back and forth behind the vehicle.

"We need to do something, sir! We can't just sit here. They are probably going to torture them! SIR!" The lieutenant looked up at the corporal, brow furrowed and teeth gritted.

"You don't think I know that, Corporal?! You think I want to leave our partners in the hands of those bastards?! I'll skin those fuckers alive if they hurt her." The lieutenant hopped off the bed of the truck and quickly came face to face with the corporal. "But what are we going to do? Huh?! Run in there and fight an entire outpost by ourselves like fucking Army of Two?! We'd get shwacked, and where would that leave our partners? Do you want that, Corporal?!"

"No, sir. I just thought-"

"You thought what?"

"I thought, well, that you'd have a plan to get them back."

"You thought I'd have a plan to get them back? You think I just have all the answers, huh?! Well, I fucking don't, Corporal! I've never been in this situation before. I don't know what the hell I'm doing out here. The only thing I know is that Renamon needs me - our partners need _us_ – right now. They deserve the best we can offer, so we're not going to go in there half-cocked and fail. I've had too many things blow up in my face, I'm not going to let that happen here. She means everything to me, so I need to give her everything I have." The lieutenant put his hand on the corporal's shoulder, and his face softened. "So let me think, okay?"

"Okay."

"Good." The lieutenant went to the cab of the truck to grab the clipboard and draw up some ideas.

 _Michael! Help me!_ The lieutenant heard her call out in his head; the hairs on his neck stood up.

"Renamon?" The lieutenant said under his breath. "I'll get you out of there, whatever it takes."

* * *

"You killed some of my men. For that, you will be punished." A few cracks of electricity were followed by a feminine voice screaming in pain. "Why do you resist us, hmmmm?" The North Korean commander asked, in thickly accented English.

"You fight my partner; you took me away from him!" Renamon yelled at him. She was strapped down on a specially made interrogation chair.

"Your partner, yes. This partner of yours? Who is he, what is he doing here?"

"He is a strong man who will help me break me out of this." She struggled against the straps.

"He is an American, yes? What are the Americans doing here, on the digital plain?"

"He is going to come here and destroy you."

"Ahh, yes. If he is foolish, he will come here. I hope he does, I want to _talk_ to him. But he won't destroy me, no. I'll see to it that you and him are reunited, doesn't that sound nice?" He put his gloved hand around her neck, pushing her chin up to look her in the eyes. "I will put him in a chair like this, right next to yours."

"No." He tightened his grip around her neck.

"Yeeeeesss. I will interrogate him and see what he knows. If he doesn't feel like talking, heh heh, you will convince him to, like so." With his free hand, he took the electrical contact and brought it to her shoulder, simultaneously releasing his grip on her neck. She screamed out.

 _Michael! Help me!_ She thought strongly in her head.

"I want to know how the Americans got here, and what they plan to do here." He pulled the contact away from her. "I want to know what they know of this facility, my project. I cannot let them interfere; we have come much too far. The beasts I have convinced, they will show the Americans the power of True Korea. They will turn the tide of the war. Those who resist, like you my dear, will be eliminated."

He brought the electrical contact to her shoulder once again, making her cry out in pain once more.


	20. Integrity

_**Message from the Author:**_ _Sorry for another long wait. I've been swamped recently with work and had a little writers block for a while. Thanks for waiting._

* * *

Integrity

"What did you see?"

"Well sir, there aren't any other entrances to the compound besides the two main gates."

"Well, we can't use those."

"Yes, sir. We need another way in." The two men had just completed their initial reconnaissance of the main North Korean compound. They met back up to discuss a plan of action.

"Well corporal, lucky for us I spotted a section of the wall blind to enemy searchlights. We should be able to scale it; the wall is not too tall."

"How are we going to scale the wall? It looks way too smooth to be able to climb up it unsupported"

"You see this?" 2LT Joseph pointed to his unit patch. "Do you know why I got assigned to the 10th Mountain?"

"No, sir."

"I went to and graduated from the Army Mountain Warfare School as a cadet. Do you know what that means?"

"You can climb mountains?"

"I can climb _anything_. If there's a way to climb it, I'll find it."

* * *

"This place is way too quiet. It gives me the creeps." a soldier said to PFC Leonardo, "There's nothing here, empty streets and buildings. Where's the enemy?"

"I dunno, but there is definitely something wrong here."

"Noise discipline, keep your voices down!" the sergeant said with a harsh whisper, "Keep your heads on a swivel, the enemy could be waiting around any corner or in any building." The squad moved to a building and stacked around the doorway. The point man nodded to the sergeant, and they stepped in quickly, weapons high, one after another.

"Clear." The rest of the squad came in.

"Look." The pointman was standing over a body. It was stripped bare, with a set of neatly folded but wet ACUs placed next to the body.

"What the hell?"

* * *

"On me, corporal." 2LT Joseph said to CPL Ku as he helped pull him over the parapet of the wall. They were now on top of the wall. "Primary communication is visual, verbal is alternate. If we get separated, I will fire a red star cluster above a rendezvous point. Clear?"

"Hooah."

"Noise discipline." The lieutenant whispered. He headed towards a watchtower connected to the wall. He motioned with his left hand, signaling CPL Ku to follow. Nearing the watchtower, he identified the occupants through the window: a soldier operating the searchlight and another sitting in a chair next to him. They were conversing.

2LT Joseph slung his weapon behind him and looked back to CPL Ku, pulled out his Gerber and opened up the blade. He nodded towards CPL Ku, making him follow suit, but pulling his bayonet out. The pair made it to the door of the tower. The lieutenant picked up a scrap piece of metal from the floor and tossed it off the side of the wall. Alerted, the soldier manning the light swung the beam down towards the ground near the base of the wall, and the other prepared the mounted machine gun, racking the charging handle to load the first round in from the ammunition belt.

Meanwhile, the lieutenant and the corporal snuck in through the open door and came up behind the enemy soldiers. The lieutenant looked to the corporal, covering his mouth with his left hand and pointing his blade towards his neck. The corporal nodded. The lieutenant counted down from three with his left hand.

Immediately upon reaching zero, he grabbed the enemy on the machine gun with his left hand over the soldier's mouth and brought his blade to the soldier's neck, stabbing at the throat many times in a panicked manner. The soldier's initial screams were muffled, but quickly stopped due to the windpipe being severed. Massive amounts of blood poured from the enemy's neck. Stepping backwards, he began to lay the soldier's body onto the ground and released his grip.

The soldier's eyes were wide and unresponsive, throat sloppily butchered with blood pooling around his head. 2LT Joseph looked to CPL Ku, who had done the same to his target. He was clearly uncomfortable with what he just had to do. He looked back at the lieutenant, who nodded in a small attempt at reassurance. The lieutenant bent down and wiped his blood-soaked blade and gloved right hand on clean parts of the dead soldier's uniform, and then put his Gerber away.

The pair hastily searched the room for anything useful. The lieutenant found a map of the complex and its surrounding area, with labeled buildings and sector sketches of the defenses. He motioned for the corporal to look. After a brief inspection, he pointed to a building on the map and then pointed to the floor, and the lieutenant nodded in response. The corporal then pointed at another building.

"Interrogation room." He whispered. The lieutenant laid prone and the corporal followed suit. The lieutenant pulled an alcohol pen from his sleeve and the pair began to discuss options and formulate a plan.


End file.
